Hometown
by 13en-writes-all
Summary: Sasuke Uchiha, a college graduate who doesn't want to join his father's plumbing business becomes a cop in his hometown and after two years advances to detective. While working cases, he reunites with his best friend who owns a bar and his High School crush who is working as a surgeon at the hospital he was born. Rated M for violence, language, and later chapters.
1. New Job - Part 1

**Part 1 – New Job – Part 1**

The first day on the job, quite a time, you walk into the room to find that no one there knows you, you might make a few friends that day, but who knows.

Six-foot-two Caucasian/Japanese Male Sasuke Uchiha had just walked into his squad room, it was his first-day working detective in Robbery Division.

Two years on the streets as a patrol officer, six weeks of detective training all amounted to this moment as he stepped through the door into the squad room.

To think that almost three years ago, he went from almost becoming a plumber to becoming a cop, and then working Robbery in his hometown of Alexandria, LA.

He lived with his grandparents two hours north in Monroe, LA while he was in college, he had his Bachelor's Degree, and really wanted to get a Master's Degree but his father didn't want to invest any more money.

 _Flashback, two and a half years ago…_

It was a quiet drive, the length between Alexandria and the airport was relatively short, only about fifteen minutes, depending on traffic.

That drive, however, was particularly irritating for Sasuke, four years of college, the Army Reserves, begging, and a Bachelor's Degree in Criminal Justice with a minor in History didn't stop his father Fugaku from doing what he wanted to do: taking Sasuke out of College and making him a partner in his plumbing business: Uchiha Piping.

Sasuke didn't want to go into his father's plumbing business, he didn't want to be a plumber, even though he had graduated, his dream was to get his Master's Degree in Criminal Justice, go on to the F.B.I. Academy at Quantico, graduate from there and become an investigative agent.

His mother, Mikoto had tried to argue on Sasuke's behalf, but her arguments had fallen on deaf ears. Fugaku had made up his mind, and unless Sasuke found a job within the next few days he was going to end up working in a field he didn't want to go into.

That was of course after his Senior Trip which he was taking with his family, his father, mother, and older brother, Itachi who was already a partner in Uchiha Piping were all heading to Sasuke's destination of choice, New York City.

As he and his family were driving to the airport, he found the drive extremely tense, his father had brought up the subject once, and was waiting for a response.

"You know that being a plumber is financially sound," Fugaku said, "There isn't a plumber in this town that is without work."

"There are also isn't a janitor that is without work," Sasuke said.

"I resent that," Itachi said.

"No offense," Sasuke said as he turned into the parking lot, and unbuckled his seatbelt.

As everyone got out of Sasuke's 2014 Ford Fusion and walked around to the back of the car.

"You're going to have to give me an answer eventually," Fugaku said, "You know that the plumbing business isn't exactly where you wanted to go."

"Isn't exactly," Sasuke asked, "I don't want to be a plumber."

"Being a plumber's not a bad job," Fugaku said as they retrieved their bags from the trunk, and shut it as they walked toward the terminal.

 _End Flashback_ …

Sasuke walked into the squad room and walked up to the Desk Sergeant, the nameplate on his desk read, _Johnson, Michael_ , "Sergeant," Sasuke said as the Sergeant looked up at him.

"You must be the new guy," Sergeant Johnson said, "Welcome to Robbery."

"Thank you, sir," Sasuke said, "Where do I report sir?"

Sergeant Johnson pointed with his thumb off to his right, "Bullpen's that way," he said, "Second door on the left."

"Thank you," Sasuke said.

As Sasuke walked down the hall to the bullpen, he took a deep breath, and after opening the door, he took the free chair in the middle row.

The man that entered the room was Lieutenant Iruka Umino, at six-foot-two he was almost identical to Sasuke in height, save for he was half Japanese, half Native American. The scar that ran from one cheek to the other was the result of a cut he received during his time as a patrol officer. The spiked-up man-bun, just a bad fashion choice.

"Order in the room," Lieutenant Iruka said, "Welcome to another day. On a different note, the Division adds another member to its family," he pointed at Sasuke, "Detective Sasuke Uchiha."

Everyone unenthusiastically clapped, "Thank you, thank you." Sasuke said.

"Alright," Lieutenant Iruka said, "Now we get onto serious business," the Lieutenant opened the file in front of him, "Last night we had a break-in at 1830 Windemere," he then pointed at a five-foot-nine Caucasian/Italian male who had a thin, spiky goatee, and a spikey hairline that pulled back into a spikey man-bun, "Shikamaru," he then pointed at Sasuke, "Take Uchiha, it seems like a very simple assignment."

"Alright," Shikamaru said as he stood up, "Uchiha, this way please."

Sasuke almost seemed to contrast Shikamaru, while they both had black hair, Sasuke had deep, rich onyx black eyes, Shikamaru had deep, brown hazel eyes.

Shikamaru was dressed in a khaki jacket with a green V-neck shirt, blue jeans, and a pair of blue sneakers, and Sasuke was dressed in a black high-neck jacket with a red stripe running down the side of the right sleeve with a blue Duluth Trading longtail tee-shirt, premium denim jeans, and his U.S. Combat boots.

"First day on the job," Shikamaru asked.

"Yea," Sasuke said, "You?"

"I've been in the department two months," Shikamaru said, "Worked on the streets for about a year and a half."

"You get fast-tracked," Sasuke asked as they walked out of the building.

"Yes," Shikamaru said, "My father works on the City Council, budget office."

As they walked into the parking lot, they walked up to a 2016 Ford F150, "That would explain the truck." Sasuke said.

Shikamaru unlocked the truck, and as they both entered, Sasuke could see where that City Council money was being spent, leather interior, SYNC radio, and various other things.

As he started up the truck, Shikamaru spoke up, "I'm surprised to see an Uchiha working for the APD as a detective," he said, "Your family being the biggest name in plumbing down here."

"I never wanted to be a plumber," Sasuke said as they drove away from the station, and towards Windemere, "My dream was to finish college with my Master's and join the F.B.I."

"That's the dream of every Criminal Justice Major in college," Shikamaru said, "Really you just end up working for the D.A. or a small department like this."

"Yea," Sasuke said.

"What're you packing?" Shikamaru asked.

Sasuke pulled the side of his jacket back to reveal his Sig Sauer, "P226 Emperor Scorpion," he said, "9mm."

Shikamaru pulled up his jacket to reveal his sidearm, "Glock 22." He said.

The turning circle was still under construction, had been for the last few weeks, it seemed now, however, they were digging up the side of the road for unknown reasons, it would impede their progress a little, but then again that wouldn't take up so much time.

 _Flashback…_

After handing the tickets to the clerk at the gate, Sasuke and his family proceeded to the gate, "You can't keep ignoring me forever Sasuke." Fugaku said.

"Watch me try," Sasuke said.

"Alright," Mikoto said, "That's enough you two. You two either stop bickering about this whole situation. We're going to New York, it's time to get happy."

"I can live with that," Sasuke said.

"So can I," Fugaku said.

 _End Flashback_ …

As they arrived at the house on Windemere, they found that the police had already set up the barricade.

That glorious grey-stained two-story wooden house is something you have to see to believe, perched on top of a small hill that stood two feet off the street that supported the whole house it could have worked anywhere in the world, but it worked in Alexandria just fine.

"What do you know about the victims?" Shikamaru asked.

"Jonathan and Demetra Denis," Sasuke asked, "My mother's a personal friend of Demetra, she works down at Chase, she's in charge of maintaining many of the accounts. What's there to say about Jonathan? He owns Jubilees' downtown, great food."

"So no shortage of people who want to rob them then?" Shikamaru asked.

"Basically," Sasuke said.

As the two cops stopped them at the line, Sasuke and Shikamaru flashed their badges, and they were let through the barricade.

"You know them?" Shikamaru asked as they put on their gloves.

"We go to church together," Sasuke said, "Demetra would babysit for me and my brother from time to time."

They walked up to the garage-entrance door where they saw where the robbers had entered using some kind of blunt object by smashing in the glass on the door, and then manually twisting the lock.

As they entered the living room, they saw Jonathan's work just fine, having blasted one of the burglars with a shotgun, and leaving his blood painting the wall next to his fireplace.

It was obvious what was stolen, the painting Sasuke remembered from when he stayed there that was mounted over the fireplace had been cut out of the frame.

The coroner looked up at the two of them, "Shikamaru," she said as she looked up at the two of them and then stood up, "Long time, whose the new guy?"

The coroner could have been described in one word: Cougar. She was a very voluptuous thirty-something-year-old blonde woman that stood only four inches below Sasuke's height.

"Tsunade, this is Sasuke Uchiha," Shikamaru said as he pointed at Sasuke, he then turned his attention to Tsunade, "Sasuke, this is Tsunade, the town's coroner."

"Pleasure," Tsunade said as she held out her hand which Sasuke shook.

"Likewise," Sasuke said, "What do we have?"

"Male, Caucasian, early twenties," Tsunade said, "Cause of death was a single gunshot wound to the chest."

"Twelve-gauge?" Shikamaru asked.

"Twenty," Tsunade said as she held up one of the pellets she dug out of the wall.

"Interesting round to fire," Shikamaru said.

"Not really," Sasuke said, "Jonathan keeps a Remington Model 870 Tac-14 pump-action for skeet shooting upstairs in his closet."

"Wife is one of his former babysitters," Shikamaru said.

"Speaking of which," Sasuke said, "Where are the homeowners?"

"In the glass room," Tsunade said, "Wife's a little shaken up."

"Why don't you go speak to them," Shikamaru asked, "Best if they see a friendly face."

"I'll be right back," Sasuke said.

Sasuke walked to the glass room where upon entering, Demetra ran up and hugged him, "Sasuke," she said as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Hello Demetra," Sasuke said as they pulled apart, "Are you ok?"

"I'm fine," Demetra said, "Just a little shaken up. What are you doing here?"

"I'm a Robbery Detective for APD," Sasuke said as he guided Demetra back to her seat, "I've been assigned your case."

Demetra and Sasuke sat down just opposite from each other, and Demetra spoke up, "That makes me feel better," she said, "Knowing you're on the case."

"Demetra," Sasuke said, "Can you tell me what happened this morning?"

"It was around five, I think," Demetra said, "I and Jon were asleep when we heard a loud crash. Jon ran to the safe to retrieve his shotgun, and when he did, we heard a loud ripping."

"Ripping," Sasuke asked, "Like paper?"

"No," Demetra said, "Like fabric."

"Fabric," Sasuke said, "That would be the painting."

"Yes," Demetra said, "Then after Jon loaded his shotgun, he went downstairs, and the robber fired at him as he appeared."

"Wait a minute," Sasuke said, "He was fired at?"

"Yes," Demetra said.

"Wait here," Sasuke said as he walked back into the room to see that the M.E.s were taking the body out, "Hold up there," as the M.E.s stopped, Sasuke looked at one of them, "Go into the garage, door on the right, and get me a tape measure."

As the M.E. ran into the garage, Shikamaru walked up to him, "What up with the tape measure," he asked.

"Here you go," the M.E. said as he handed Sasuke the tape measure.

Sasuke measured the robber from head to toe, his height was about 5'10", he walked to the wall where the robber was located, measured 5'10", took out his gun, and aimed upwards at the top of the stairs where he saw the bullet hole.

"Bingo," he said as he stepped over the blood, and walked up the stairs to observe the bullet-hole close-up.

"What do you see?" Shikamaru asked.

"Something that might help us identify the perps," Sasuke said as he reached down to pull his flip-knife out of his boot.

As Shikamaru walked up the stairs, he saw Sasuke dig a .380 ACP round out of the wall, "Mr. Denis didn't kill him because he was breaking in." He said.

"No," Sasuke said, "He was defending himself."

"Then the second got away," Shikamaru said, "And he has a gun."

"Which means he's more dangerous than a cornered animal," Sasuke said.

 _Guess what happens_...


	2. New Job - Part 2

**Part 2 – New Job – Part 2**

 _Back at the station_ …

Shikamaru started posting pictures of the victim while Sasuke was thumbing through a book on Stolen Art by the Nazis.

"Please tell me we have something," Lieutenant Iruka said as he entered the room.

"We're still working on the I.D. of the dead robber at the Denis's home," Shikamaru said, "But we can rule out Mr. Denis as a cold-blooded killer. One of the robbers took a pot-shot at him when they were stealing the painting off of his wall."

"Speaking of which," Sasuke said as he took a picture of a page out of the book with his phone, and sent it to the touch-screen board where the evidence was located, "I found it."

"Yes?" Iruka asked.

Sasuke walked over with the book outstretched, and pointed to a Monet painting, "Right there, that's the painting." He said.

"Lilies in the Springtime," Iruka said, "By Monet no less," he handed the book back to Sasuke who put it down on his desk, then looked at the painting on the touch-board, "Shouldn't a piece like that be in the Louvre?"

"Sure," Sasuke said, "If it was real," both Iruka and Shikamaru turned towards him, with a slightly puzzled look on his face, "It at one point hung right next to the Mona Lisa in the Louvre, before the Second World War of course. When the Nazis captured Paris and Hitler began planning the Führermuseum, the Nazi's plundering squad, the Kunstschutz stole it. It was then transported by train to Bavaria where it simply disappeared."

"Then the Nero Decree was declared," Shikamaru said.

"Exactly," Sasuke said as he pointed at his partner.

"Ok," Iruka said, "Remind me, what was the Nero Decree?"

"It was an order passed by Hitler around March, near the end of the European Theatre of the Second World War," Shikamaru said, "Ordering that if Hitler were to die or if Germany were to fall, they were to destroy buildings, bridges, art, and anything else that had the Nazi stamp on it to deny the Allies a Final Victory."

"So it was destroyed?" Iruka asked.

"No one knows," Sasuke said, "Once it reached Bavaria it dropped off the face of the Earth, and it hasn't resurfaced since."

"This painting has been missing for almost three-quarters of a century, and suddenly a reproduction of an original Monet is stolen," Iruka asked, "Doesn't sound like a coincidence to me."

"I don't know sir," Sasuke said as he walked over to Shikamaru's desk, and pointed to the tall stack of files, "I pulled up multiple files of the robberies in that neighborhood dating back to 2012, that neighborhood has become a hotbed of activity over the last four years, a dozen holdups, twenty breaking and entering cases, mostly cars. Could be whoever robbed the Denis's could have thought they were grabbing an easy score."

"I don't buy it," Iruka said as he looked back at the painting on the screen, "There must be something more," he then looked back at his detectives, "Head down to the museum, and see if anyone there knows anything about it."

 _Flashback_ …

There are no flights directly to New York from a small town like Alexandria, you either have to drive or fly to another major city to get on a plane to get to New York.

The planes that they run out of England Airpark are small, compact planes that have two rows of seats. On the right, as you walk into said planes, there is a single row of twelve chairs, on the left, two rows of twenty-four chairs. The restroom is at the back, and whenever the plane climbs, the door swings open.

The runs they run out of DFW Texas in Dallas are large 747s, on both sides of the plane are 3 rows of thirty-two seats running all the way to the back of the plane. The planes have restrooms that don't swing open when the plane climbs.

Sasuke and Itachi sat on one side of the First Class isle while Fugaku and Minato sat on the other side.

As Sasuke was reading _The Silence of the Lambs_ , Itachi started a conversation, "Why don't you give the company a chance?" Itachi asked.

"Because I don't want to be a plumber," Sasuke said as he turned the page.

"Being a plumber is not such a bad job," Itachi said.

Sasuke closed his book for a while, and turned toward Itachi, "Itachi, have you ever wanted more from life," Sasuke asked, "I want to help people, I want to save lives, and I can't do that unclogging toilets and fixing drains."

 _Museum_ …

Sasuke showed the picture of the painting to the head curator at the museum, Collin Westward, "Ah, _Lilies in the Springtime_ ," he said, "Classic Monet painting."

"Has anyone ever brought one into the museum to be appraised?" Shikamaru asked.

"No," Mr. Westward said as he walked with Sasuke and Shikamaru toward his office, "Then again, what can you expect when you put a flamethrower to a priceless painting."

"Flamethrower?" Shikamaru asked as they entered Mr. Westward's office.

"The frame the piece was supposed to be in was found burned along with several other priceless paintings," Mr. Westward said as he finished flipping through a picture book, removed a picture, and turned around to hand it to Sasuke and Shikamaru.

The picture was an old black and white photograph from 1945 when the Allies were raiding a Gold Mine in Germany where they found that the Nazis had burned the paintings right before they arrived.

"This was the frame the painting was in?" Sasuke asked.

"Yes," Mr. Westward said as he took a seat at his desk, "The painting, however, was not inside, so that's why most people hold out hope."

"Has anyone ever tried to turn in one to this museum specifically?" Sasuke asked.

"Yes, a young man came with one not two hours ago," Mr. Westward said, "Said it belonged to his grandfather who found it during World War Two. When our authenticator told him it was fake, he was pretty angry."

"Does the museum keep a record of guests like that?" Sasuke asked.

"Yes," Mr. Westward said, "But when someone comes in with a piece of art they want to authenticate, I keep a private log," he pulled a small ledger out from behind his desk, and slid it across the table to the detectives.

Shikamaru opened the ledger to the page, "Jacob Schroder," Shikamaru said as he tapped the page, "5698 Leesville Way."

"Really," Sasuke asked, "I didn't know anybody lived at the Coliseum."

"Shit," Shikamaru said, then turned toward Mr. Westward, "Can you describe the man?"

"No," Mr. Westward said, "But the security cameras might have captured him."

 _Security room_ …

The cameras that the museum was not state of the art, early 2000's but they worked, and the museum really didn't have the money to replace them so they kept them.

The security guard zoomed in on the person walking into the museum, he was six feet tall and wore a pair of worn sneakers, denim jeans, and a button-up white shirt.

"Someone dressed like that," Shikamaru asked, "They'd blend right in downtown."

"Especially on a cold day," Sasuke said.

"Is there an outdoor camera?" Shikamaru asked.

Outside, as the man was leaving, it was obvious he was angry, he got into a Mercedes, but what kind was a mystery, he tore out of the parking lot, and cut off a car in front of him.

"Nothing on his license plate," Sasuke said, "Whoever it was, we can't identify them this way."

"What about the other car?" Shikamaru asked.

"That car belongs to one of our janitors," the security guard said, "His name is Jamal Lincoln."

"Maybe he can identify the car," Sasuke said, "When does he come into work?"

The security guard checked the logs, "He checked half an hour ago." He said.

Sasuke and Shikamaru walked upstairs where Jamal was working, he was five-foot-nine, hand dreadlocks, tattoos that ran down both arms, and several piercings including a nose ring, an earring, and an eyebrow spike.

"Mr. Lincoln," Sasuke asked as they walked up to Jamal.

"Yes," Jamal asked as he stopped mopping to look at them.

"APD," Sasuke said as he pulled the side of his jacket aside to show off his badge, "We were wondering if we could talk to you about the car that cut you off this morning."

"You mean the son of a bitch that almost killed me?" Jamal asked.

"Yes," Shikamaru said, "Do you remember anything about that car?"

"I thought someone would come around asking for him actually," Jamal said as he reached into his pocket, and pulled out his phone, "Right as he was driving away, I snapped a picture of his license plate," Jamal unlocked his phone, and his background was an original Jackson Pollock painting.

"Jackson Pollock?" Sasuke asked.

"Yes," Jamal said, "I've been a huge fan of art my whole life. I was kicked out of art school actually."

Jamal pulled up the picture on his phone of the Mercedes tearing out of the parking lot, the license plate was DECS-9282.

"Thanks," Sasuke said as he slapped Jamal on the shoulder.

As the two were walking out of the Museum, Shikamaru called the DMV, "Hello," the receptionist asked as she picked up the phone.

"Shikamaru Nara, badge 4-6-3-9." Shikamaru said.

"How can I help detective?" The receptionist asked.

"I need you to run a plate for me," Shikamaru said, "DECS-9282."

The receptionist typed in the plate number, and spoke, "The plate is registered to a 2005 Mercedes-Benz C230," she said, "Owner is one – Jacob Marcos. The address is 7123 Mayflower Avenue."

"Thank you," Shikamaru said.

As they entered Shikamaru's truck, Sasuke called the station, "Sasuke Uchiha, badge 12-47." He said.

"What can I do for you, Detective," Kurenai Yūhi, the station's desk-sergeant asked as she answered the phone.

"What do we have on a Jacob Marcos?" Sasuke asked.

Kurenai typed in Jacob's name, and came back with an instant search, "Jacob has had several previous arrests by Police Officers in New Orleans, Houston, Little Rock, and several other cities," she said, "Drunk and disorderly behavior, assault and battery, and possession of stolen property."

"Any breaking and entering charges?" Sasuke asked.

"Four, at least," Kurenai said, "Two into Art Museums, the rest, into houses."

"Alright," Sasuke said, "Thanks, Kurenai," as he hung up, he turned towards Shikamaru, "7123 Mayflower."

Arriving at the house, Sasuke and Shikamaru walked up to the front door which was a glorious mahogany wood grain door that reflected the leaves that littered the ground in the front yard.

Shikamaru knocked on the door to have a woman in her mid-thirties answer the door, "Can I help you two?" She asked.

"APD," Sasuke said as he raised his badge, "We're looking for Jacob Marcos."

"Why he hasn't done anything wrong has he," She asked, "Sorry, I'm his mother, Martha."

"Ma'am, if your son is here, we just need to ask him a few things," Sasuke said.

"Jacob," Martha exclaimed toward the back, "There's someone here to see you."

Jacob walked up to the door, when he saw the badges, he bolted toward the garage.

"Get the car," Sasuke exclaimed as he ran around the side to the garage.

Jumping over the little knee-high wood barrier, he ran around to the open garage and saw Jacob opening the door to his Mercedes.

Sasuke grabbed Jacob out of the car, and pinned him to the ground, "On the ground," he said as he pinned Jacob's arms behind his back, and cuffed him, "Stupid move kid."

 _Guess what happens next…_


	3. New Job - Part 3

**Part 3 – New Job – Part 3**

 _Station Interrogation Room_ …

Shikamaru placed the picture of the painting Jacob brought into the museum in front of him, "What the hell is this?" He asked.

"You sure as hell known what that is," Shikamaru said, "You brought that painting into the museum be evaluated, it was evaluated to be a fake, and you didn't take it well."

"So I took it in there," Jacob said, "Yes I was mad, but what does that have to do with anything?"

"That painting was a forgery," Sasuke said, "We've already talked to your mom, she's never seen that painting before. You said it was a family heirloom."

"She's lying," Jacob said, "That painting has been in my dad's family since World War Two, then they tell me my great grandfather is a liar, and I was pissed."

"Then how come your father says you're lying," Shikamaru asked as he sat against the table, "We got off the phone with him on his rig, and he said the only thing your great-grandfather brought back from World War Two was a sawtooth bayonet and PTSD."

"He's lying too," Jacob said, "He's in league with that moron."

"We'll be sure to tell her you called her that," Sasuke said, "You got that painting from a forger, and tried to pass it off as a family heirloom. Where'd you get the painting?"

"Here's what I think," Shikamaru said as he sat down next to Sasuke, "I think you stole that painting from the Denis's house."

"Who?" Jacob asked.

"You've never heard of Jonathan Denis," Sasuke asked, "Owner of Jubilees'?"

"Yea I know him," Jacob said, "Love that place, great food, even better drinks."

"Their house was robbed last night," Sasuke said, "And Jonathan was nearly killed.

"I would never do anything like that," Jacob said.

"I think you're lying," Shikamaru said, "If we search your house, are we going to find a .380 pistol?"

"My dad doesn't own a .380," Jacob said, "He has a few guns, but he keeps them in a safe I don't have the combination to."

"Alright then," Shikamaru said as he picked up the pictures, and walked towards the door, "We'll have to verify that. In the meantime, good luck downtown."

"Wait a minute," Jacob said, "What?"

"You didn't hear," Sasuke asked as he held the door open for Shikamaru who walked out the door, "Guess they don't teach law in Juvie, running from police is a Class 4 Felony. That means one year in jail. With your record, the judge will have no problem sentencing you to that."

"What," Jacob asked, "You can do that!"

"I beg to differ," Sasuke said, "A boy like you with a long rap sheet, you're gonna need a good lawyer to stay out of trouble."

"No! No! Wait," Jacob said, "I'll tell you! I'll tell you!"

"You're afraid of jail," Sasuke said as he walked back over to the table, "Now, where did you get the painting?"

"I didn't get it from anywhere," Jacob said.

"Alright then," Sasuke said as he stood up.

"Wait," Jacob said, "I didn't get it from anywhere because I painted it.

Sasuke sat down, and leaned across the table toward Jacob, "You painted that?" He asked.

"Yes sir," Jacob said, "I wanted to go to College on an Art Scholarship, but you make a few mistakes, and it's all out the window."

"Don't give up on yourself," Sasuke said, "Your father works offshore, when a parent or family member your close to is away for extended periods of time it often causes problems. But I believe that there must be something else you could tell us."

"I did have a piece in an art show at my church a few weeks ago," Jacob said, "And I was approached by a counterfeiter."

"He wanted you to forge pictures for him?" Sasuke asked.

"Yes," Jacob said, "I didn't know he was a counterfeiter until he showed me his work. He said to keep in touch."

"He give you a card or anything?" Sasuke asked.

"I actually remember the place," Jacob said, "It was the old Delray Studios in Downtown Alexandria. He had armed guards and said he needed them because he was about to come into a large fortune, and was going to scale up."

"Did he say how much?" Sasuke asked.

"Yea, about Sixty to Seventy-Five Million," Jacob said.

"Thanks," Sasuke said, "Two more questions, did he have a name?"

"Yes," Jacob said, "He said his name was Evan Richter."

"Ok," Sasuke said, "Second question, why'd you lie to us?"

"If you found me with a reproduction of an original Monet, would you have believed me if I said, 'I painted this, but I didn't want people to know'?" Jacob asked.

"Honest is the best policy," Sasuke said as he stood up, "You're not going to be charged with anything Jacob. But you are going to be put on probation for running from us, and lying to a police officer."

"Just as long as I don't go to jail," Jacob said, "Thank you," as Sasuke was walking out he spoke up once more, "By the way, I didn't get your name."

Sasuke stopped at the door, and turned to face him, "Uchiha," Sasuke said, "Sasuke Uchiha."

As Sasuke stepped out, Iruka spoke to Sasuke, "Nice job detective," he said, "But that doesn't get us any closer to finding who almost killed Jonathan Denis."

"Actually it does," Sasuke said as he walked over to the smart-screen, and tapped on the picture of the painting that expanded it to full-screen, "You remember when I said that this painting was never found?"

"Yes?" Iruka asked.

"What I didn't mention was its estimated value," Sasuke said, "The French Government would love nothing more than to see the piece returned to the Louvre. If it ever resurfaced, then it would probably be worth somewhere in the neighborhood of sixty to…" he pointed at his Lieutenant.

"Seventy-five Million Dollars," Iruka said.

"Exactly," Sasuke said.

"This counterfeiter, Richter," Shikamaru said as he looked over at Sasuke and Iruka, "He's had several other previous arrests in New York, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, and multiple other cities including some cities abroad. Fraud, conspiracy to commit fraud, forging government stationary, and the list keeps going on and on. Just one long list of crimes that would qualify him to try and commit a crime like this."

"Our John Doe in the coroner's office," Sasuke said, "If he's connected to this Richter, that should be just enough proof to get a warrant."

 _Flashback_ …

LaGuardia Airport, East Elmhurst, New York, not the best airport in the world, but certainly not the worst.

You step out into the middle of January, and you can feel it in the air, the maximum temperature on that day was right at freezing, 50 Degrees Fahrenheit.

Stepping off the plane, Sasuke retrieved his gloves and cap from his luggage and slid them on as quickly as he could.

Stepping out into the street where their rental car was waiting was like a godsend, a nice and warm 2013 Explorer was exactly what the doctor ordered.

"Boy it's cold," Sasuke said as he took a seat next to Itachi, "It's fantastic."

"Yea it is," Itachi said, "Welcome to New York brother."

This had been the first time that Sasuke had been to New York City, and he was loving every minute of it, the drive into the city, however, was not very pleasant.

They say that New York has terrible drivers, that's only partially true because, during city driving, it is almost impossible to get anywhere above thirty miles-per-hour.

The Plaza Hotel has to be one of the most attractive Hotels in New York, though there are some that say it's way too expensive, then again, Sasuke's father is on a half-a-million dollar a year paycheck.

After unpacking their stuff, Sasuke looked out the window: when the sun sinks behind the buildings in New York City, the sight is indescribably beautiful.

The beautiful brick buildings of New York appear almost bronze in the receding sunlight, and the windows that reflect the sunlight shine a beautiful gold, red, and purple shine.

You really have to see it to believe it: it's beyond beautiful, almost mythical.

"It's beautiful," Mikoto said as she sat next to her son, "Isn't it?"

"I know you went here for your senior trip," Sasuke said.

"I told you how beautiful it was," Mikoto said, "But I never imagined I'd be enjoying it from the comfort of the Plaza Hotel."

"Then again you didn't know you were going to marry dad," Sasuke said.

"Your father isn't bad Sasuke," Mikoto said, "I know you want to go back and get your Master's. You're father's looking out for your future."

"He has a funny way of showing it," Sasuke said as he stood up, and walked toward his bed, "Mom, I don't want to be a plumber. I want to do something more with my life. I want a job that makes me feel good when I come home. Something that I come home to, and know I did well. I can't do that when I'm a plumber."

 _End Flashback_ …

As Sasuke and Shikamaru arrived at the coroner's office to Tsunade was just finishing up the autopsy.

"Tsunade, please tell me you have something," Sasuke said.

Tsunade looked back at them, "You know I do," Tsunade said as she handed Sasuke her clipboard, "His name is Daniel Jenkins, and I did find trace amounts of multiple nitrate-based compounds on his right hand. He fired at Mr. Denis first."

"I assume since you got his name that he has a record?" Sasuke asked.

"Not just that," Tsunade said as she turned toward her computer to show them the x-rays she did of his body, "He's been stabbed twice, shot once," she then pulled up a picture of his shoulders, and pointed to his right arm, "The reason he couldn't lift his hand up all the way was right here. He had a rare form of rotator cuff tear that I've only seen when someone is thrown to the ground with their arms handcuffed behind their backs."

"Thanks, Tsunade," Sasuke said as he turned toward Shikamaru, "Let's see if we can connect him with Evan Richter."

 _Back at the station_ …

"Bingo," Shikamaru said as a simple search came up with a match for Daniel Jenkins, "Wanted by authorities in multiple Louisiana and Texas towns for assault, attempted homicide, and sexual assault. He was a street thug mercenary for hire, he'd do anything for cash, would kill anyone, and even play both sides of gang wars for money."

"So what, this guy Richter hires Jenkins to rob the Denis's house, and steal a reproduction piece by Monet," Sasuke asked, "I don't get it, why do all this for a fake painting? Unless…"

"The painting's not a reproduction," Shikamaru said.

"Let me make a call," Sasuke said.

Sasuke walked around to his desk, picked up the phone, and called Jubilees', "This is Jubilees' Restaurant and Bar, how can I help you?" The person that picked up the phone asked.

"Is Jonathan there?" Sasuke asked.

"Yes," she said, "I'll transfer you."

When the phone transferred to Jonathan, he answered with, "Yea what?"

"Jon," Sasuke said, "It's Sasuke."

"Sasuke," Jonathan said, "Does this mean you're calling me to come in to ask questions?"

"No," Sasuke said, "I was wondering, does the name Evan Richter mean anything to you?"

"Yes," Jonathan said, "I was having the painting evaluated a few months ago at the house, and he told me it was a fake. Why you think he's involved?"

"That remains to be seen Jon," Sasuke said, "I'll be in touch."

"Well?" Shikamaru asked.

"We got him," Sasuke said.

"What do we have?" Iruka asked.

"That was Jonathan," Sasuke said, "He says he hired Evan Richter to evaluate the Monet and judged it to be a reproduction. He could have noticed that it was an original, and planned the theft ever since."

"Then I have good news," Iruka said as he held out a slip of paper, "Straight from Downtown, you have free range to search every inch of that property."

"Let's go," Shikamaru said as he stood up, and grabbed the warrant.

 _Flashback_ …

The next day in New York for Sasuke and his family was very nice, the first stop on their trip was Times Square.

The famous epicenter of the city is grand during the day, but at night, the signs that glow multiple colors, and the performers on the streets, it's a sight you can't beat.

The first place Sasuke wanted to go was right there, just a quick peak around Times Square, and then they'd got to Macy's for his mother.

As Sasuke sat on the steps right in front of the large coke sign, and as his brother walked up to him, he looked out at the crowd, "Amazing isn't it," Itachi asked, "People just coming and going. Not knowing what the future will hold for them?"

"There some sort of deeper euphuism that I should be aware of with that?" Sasuke said.

"You don't know where life is going to take you Sasuke," Itachi said, "Maybe life is taking you somewhere other than the plumbing business. I want to help you find out where."

Sasuke turned toward Itachi and for the first time felt like he finally understood his brother.

"Thanks Itachi," Sasuke said as the two embraced.

 _End Flashback_ …


	4. New Job - Part 4

**Part 4 – New Job – Part 4**

The old Delray Studios in Downtown Alexandria wasn't really a studio and wasn't really in Downtown Alexandria. The studio was basically a large metal shed that would be rented out from time to time as a soundstage. It wasn't in Downtown Alexandria, it was out in the middle of the woods one mile to the east of the city.

As Shikamaru pulled up to the main gate they saw that Jacob wasn't exaggerating when it came to the armed guards, really it wasn't guards, it was a few guys in tactical gear carrying civilian-issue rifles and shotguns. Probably some good old boys wanting to raise more money for their families.

As they stepped out of the truck, the man on the right spoke up, "Sorry boys," he said, "No visitors today."

"I'd like you to make an exception," Sasuke said as he flashed his badge, and held up the warrant, "We have a warrant to search the premises."

"Mr. Richter said no one on the premises," he said, "If you don't leave we will defend ourselves."

"Assaulting a cop will get you five months to ten years," Shikamaru said, "Now open the gate, or we'll come back with a tactical team, and break it down."

"Whatever gets you to sleep at night." He replied.

Sasuke and Shikamaru turned around and walked toward his truck, "Get on the phone, and get S.W.A.T. down here?" Sasuke asked.

"Get a few pop guns?" Shikamaru asked.

"You know it," Sasuke said.

 _Thirty minutes later_ …

As soon as the S.W.A.T. Unit arrived, the team loaned Sasuke and Shikamaru a few weapons.

The two detectives had parked Shikamaru's truck a few dozen feet away in a wooded area that kept them out of view of the studio.

"Good to see you again, Detective," S.W.A.T. Leader Shino said as he handed Sasuke a Colt M4 with an A.R.M.S. S.I.R. system, and an attached EOTech sight, "You know how to use one of those right?"

"Used one during my time in Army Intelligence," Sasuke said as he slid three magazines into a set of magazine holders he attached to his belt.

Shikamaru checked the action on the Benelli M4, "Think we're ready." He said.

As Sasuke and Shikamaru strapped on their Kevlar vests, the S.W.A.T. Team mounted their Lenco BearCat and set off toward the Studio.

As the BearCat was approaching the gates, the two 'guards' that stopped Sasuke and Shikamaru before raised their hands to signal them to stop, as the BearCat sped up, the one on the left raised his Mossberg 500, and the one on the right raised his AR-15, and let off several shots into the glass of the BearCat which bounced off.

As they crashed through the gate, the gate slammed into the two of them and knocked them both out cold.

"POLICE," the S.W.A.T. Officers yelled as he jumped out of the gate, "SEARCH WARRANT!"

As Sasuke and Shikamaru stepped out of the van, a single 'guard' came around the corner carrying a double-barrel shotgun and raised it to fire only to have Sasuke drill three rounds into his chest with the M4A1.

Shikamaru went around the right to come face-to-face with another guard, the guard swung the butt-stock of his AR only for Shikamaru to duck underneath the swing, but the guard across the jaw, and blow the guard away with the Benelli.

The S.W.A.T. Team ran into the Studio, several more guards opened fire with AR-15s only for S.W.A.T. to put them on the ground.

Richter meanwhile bolted for the secondary exit, but as he ran out, he ran right into Sasuke and Shikamaru who lifted him above ground and slammed him into the dirt.

"Evan Richter," Sasuke said as Shikamaru secured his arms behind his back, "You're under arrest!"

 _Back at the Station_ …

"I know my rights," Richter said as he looked up at Shikamaru who circled him like a hungry shark, "I don't have to say shit to you."

"You're damn right you don't," Shikamaru said, "Then again, you could just explain to the Grand Jury what you were doing forging all those paintings?"

"Creating reproductions," Richter said.

"Alright then," Sasuke said as he held out the ledger he picked up after he and Shikamaru dropped Richter into the dirt, "Then explain this entry," he opened to the second to last page, "5:30, Thursday Duller, $50,000. Was that the Picasso you sold him last week days ago?"

"We had our someone else appraise it when we sent him over to Mr. Duller's," Shikamaru said, "It's fucking fake, and Mr. Duller is pissed out of his mind."

"Is it my fault they can't tell left from right?" Richter asked.

"Alright then," Sasuke asked as he looked at the last entry, "Final entry was this morning. 4:30, Wednesday, Compton, $150,000. You're being blackmailed, aren't you?"

"It was the painting wasn't it," Shikamaru asked, "The one you wanted to be stolen from the Denis's house?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Richter said.

"Ok then," Sasuke said as he picked up all the evidence, and stepped out with Shikamaru.

As soon as they stepped out of the interrogation room into the observation room, Iruka was leaning against the wall, "He's gonna hide behind his rights," he said, "We're going to get nothing out of him."

"We won't get anything out of him unless we beat it out of him," Shikamaru said, "But we don't want Internal Affairs poking around this case."

"What if we let him go," Sasuke asked.

"What?" Shikamaru and Iruka asked at the same time.

"Well think," Sasuke said, "He wants that painting really bad. He gets his hands on it, he turns it over to the French Government, and he's a hero. But you can't bring a cylindrical holder into a park in broad daylight without someone noticing."

"You think whoever's holding our sixty to seventy-five-million-dollar painting hostage has it stored somewhere?" Shikamaru asked.

"Why not," Sasuke asked, "That's how I would do it. If you have a painting that valuable, then you're gonna keep it safe."

"Then when he shows up to make the drop," Shikamaru said, "We grab him, and we question him about the painting."

"We'd need a good place to observe the park," Iruka said.

"I have a friend that lives not once house down from there," Sasuke said, "I'm sure he wouldn't mind."

"Set it up," Iruka said, "I'll what I can do."

As Sasuke and Shikamaru walked out of the station, Iruka walked into the interrogation room.

"Are you my attorney," Richter asked.

"No," Iruka said, "I'm Lieutenant Umino. Alexandria Robbery."

"You here to read me my Miranda Rights," Richter asked.

"Actually no," Iruka said as he walked around to Richter's keys, and unlocked them, "Unfortunately a typo down at the D.A.s office serves as the basis from something that would come back to bite my department in the ass."

"A faulty search warrant," Richter said.

"Yes," Iruka said, "We don't have any sufficient evidence to charge you with anything. So, you're free to go."

Richter stood up, and turned towards Iruka as he walked out, "You can tell your two detectives that they can be expecting a call from my lawyer." He said.

As Richter walked out of the station, he quickly called for an Uber driver which took him straight to the bank.

 _Flashback_ …

During a walk around Central Park, Fugaku and Mikoto walked in front of Sasuke and Itachi.

"You're sure the F.B.I. won't accept you?" Itachi asked.

"They might," Sasuke said, "But unless you have a Master's Degree, they won't take a fresh-faced kid like me walking into Quantico with only four years Army training."

"You could work for the Sheriff," Itachi said.

"That's not a half bad idea Itachi," Sasuke said, "You really think they would take someone like me?"

"Like you said," Itachi said, "You had four years of Army training. You have a degree in Criminal Justice, could you do any better than that?"

"Sherriff's office doesn't seem like such a bad idea," Sasuke said, "What do you think of, Sherriff Uchiha, Sherriff of Rapides Parish?"

"The only sheriff in Louisiana history to leave for a job in plumbing," Itachi said.

"Oh, fuck you," Sasuke said as he playfully pushed his brother away.

 _Wakefield Boulevard_ …

The large two-story house closest to Compton Park could have gotten you any good view of the park if you wanted to.

Sasuke's friend, the son of a teacher and a small businessman downtown had become a heart surgeon at Christus Saint Frances Cabrini Hospital.

Houses in that area, right around J.B. Nachman Elementary was prime real estate.

Sasuke and Shikamaru set up shop in a second-floor room with several members of the APD's technical support.

"Hey guys," Sasuke said as he walked in with the food he was sent to retrieve, "Went to Eddie's just up the road."

Eddie's is quintessentially an Alexandria thing, if you want authentic _Louisiana_ Barbecue, you go to Eddie's. When you go to Eddie's, don't just expect the normal barbecue staples like pulled pork or ribs, expect a nice piece of fried fish, maybe some butterfly shrimp. For sides, have some nice fried okra, some corn maque choux, or some rice dressing.

That my friends is Southern Hospitality, enjoy it because there's plenty to go around.

As the crew ate, Shikamaru began talking, "It's hard to believe it's only been two days since we began this case," he said, "And we've learned that we're chasing a real Monet painting, we've broken up a mass art-forging ring, and was almost killed by a bunch of angry rednecks with guns."

"Sir," one of the technical guys said as he signaled the detectives over, "We have activity!"

Sasuke observed the park through the Stiner 10x50 binoculars the police had on standard-issue and watched as Richter walked into the park, he held a large MacDonald's bag in his hand that budged weirdly: because it was full of money.

He threw the bag into the trashcan near the street-side entrance, he then turned around and walked in the opposite direction of the trash can.

Sasuke picked up one of the radios, and turned it on, "All units, the egg is in the nest," he said, "Repeat, the egg is in the next."

It didn't take ten minutes before a hooded figure walked over to the trashcan, reached inside, and as he picked up the bag, he looked inside for the cash.

"I think we have our man," Shikamaru said.

Sasuke activated his radio, "All units, move in," he said, "All units, move in!"

Soon the entire park was filled with cops, "APD," the undercover APD officers yelled as they held the man that picked up the money at gunpoint.

Sasuke and Shikamaru ran to the park and quickly cuffed the assailant. They pulled his hood back to reveal Jamal Lincoln, "Jamal," Sasuke said.

"Detective," Jamal said.

 _Station_ …

"You lied to me when you said you went to college to be an artist," Sasuke said.

"You really are a smart detective," Jamal said, "Maybe there'll be a future for you in the police after all."

"We have detectives searching your apartment right now," Sasuke said, "What are you willing to bet that they're going to find a .380 Walther and a priceless Monet painting?"

"You'd win that bet," Jamal said, "But you still lose detective, you see, I still outsmarted you. You still don't know my motive, or why I tried to kill Mr. Denis."

"That's where you're wrong," Sasuke said, "Because you didn't. Your partner did, I know that because your partner couldn't lift his arm up high enough to fire," Jamal looked at Sasuke with a shocked look on his face, "You didn't go to school to be an artist, you wanted to be an art authenticator, that's why Richter hired you. You were initially satisfied with the money he was giving you to break in. But your partner panicked and fired, but the rotator cuff tear in his shoulder prevented him from raising his arm all the way up. You ran with the painting in hand, and made it away, but once you realized what you had in your hands, you knew that Richter was good for more."

"How did…" Jamal asked.

"One doesn't steal a priceless painting without good reason," Sasuke said, "So tell me, what was yours?"

Jamal sat back, defeated, "That painting belonged in a museum," Jamal said, "I was going to donate most of the money I made from the ransom to the American Cancer Association."

"Your mother had brain cancer," Sasuke said, "She bought a painting from Richter that turned out to be fake. That was your motivation."

Tears started to fall from Jamal's eyes, "She was my only means of financial backing," he said, "When she did, I couldn't finish art school. I sat there in the hospital and watched as she took her last breaths. Meanwhile, he was making millions selling fake paintings to good people like her! I've been wanting revenge ever since, and I damn well got it!"

"You did," Sasuke said, "He's going to jail for conspiracy and forgery. The painting is going back to the Louvre."

"And I'm going to jail," Jamal said.

"Hopefully the judge will see things your way," Sasuke said.

Sasuke walked out of the room, and into the observation room where Shikamaru and Iruka were waiting, "It was him the whole time," Shikamaru said, "Right, and he stared us down."

"I wouldn't worry about it," Sasuke said.

"I wouldn't," Iruka said, "What we have here is a classic case of revenge. Since he didn't shoot, he'll only get charged with extortion and breaking and entering. Meanwhile, Richter is looking at forgery, conspiracy, and tax evasion. He's looking at twenty years, and Jamal here is only looking at a few months."

"Maybe he can set his life straight," Sasuke said, "There are many people that deserve one."

"Yea," Iruka said, "But with a priceless painting on it's way back to France, ten million dollars going towards Mr. and Mrs. Denis, and fifty thousand going towards Jacob, I'd say you boys earned yourself a little celebration. Well done."

As Iruka left, Shikamaru looked up at Sasuke, "So first case we get together as partners we find a priceless painting that's been missing since World War 2, break up a mass forging ring, and set a kid on the path to success," he said, "I don't know about you Uchiha, but I think I'm going to enjoy working with you."

"Likewise," Sasuke said, "Want a beer?"

"I don't want one," Shikamaru said, "I need one."

"I know a place," Sasuke said.

Konoha, the premier local bar in Alexandria right across from Chuck E. Cheese's, several Mexican restaurants had come and gone, now Konoha stood there, and ever since Sasuke moved back, it had become his favorite watering hole.

Upon entering, a young blonde man shouted, "SASUKE!"

Seeing this young man with spikey blonde hair, blue eyes, and facial hair that looked like cat whiskers working behind the bar, you might not think two thoughts about him, believing him to be a simple bartender. That was until you realized that the young man was Naruto Uzumaki, the owner of the bar.

"Hey Naruto," Sasuke said as he walked over to the main bar.

"New partner," Naruto asked, "What'll it be this time?"

"This is Shikamaru," Sasuke said, "He's my partner in Robbery."

"No shit," Naruto said, "You made detective! Congratulations! So what'll it be?"

"Two beers," Sasuke said, "Very cold."

"You got it," Naruto said as he reached underneath the bar, and picked up two pint glasses.

As Naruto was pouring the beers, someone snuck up from behind, and covered her hands over Sasuke's eyes, "Guess who?" the woman asked.

"I recognize these soft hands anywhere," Sasuke said as he pulled them off his eyes, and kissed each of them before turning to see the face of Sakura Rebecca Haruno, his good friend and a rising surgeon at Saint Francis Cabrini.

"I heard you made detective," Sakura said as she embraced him, and took a seat next to him.

"I did," Sasuke said as Naruto handed him and Shikamaru their beers, "We just closed our first major case."

"Congratulations," Sakura said as Naruto handed her the usual thing she ordered: a Tokyo Rose, "To you two solving your first major case."

"Here, here," Sasuke and Shikamaru said as they tapped their glasses against Sakura's, ad swigged them back.

 _Not bad for the first day on the job, don't you think so…_


	5. Highway Robbery - Part 1

**Part 5 – The Highway Robbery – Part 1**

The underside of the overpass on Martin Luther King Drive in Alexandria, if you ever want to get the feeling someone might come from out of nowhere and mug you, go there at night, and just stand there.

Two days following Sasuke and Shikamaru breaking up Evan Richter's forgery ring, and returning Lilies in the Springtime to the Louvre, a Loomis Armored Car on its way to Capital One Bank on Murray Street very early in the morning stopped clean in its tracks as a large-caliber round slammed into the engine block of the car.

The two guards inside watched as four assailants came in out of the darkness. One of them came out of the shadows, and blew out the two front tires.

The first armed guard swung the door open with his Glock 19 in hand and opened fire before one of the assailants got a lucky shot, hitting him in the ankle.

Another one of the assailants walked up with a shotgun and hit him in the chest before turning to his partner in the van who managed to blast him with his own Glock.

Another came in, and shot the guard four times in the chest and stomach, right on the edges of the Kevlar plates in his vest.

The assailants grabbed the keys off of the guard and unlocked the back of the van.

In the back of the van, they began unpacking their ill-gotten gains and ran off into the night.

 _Magnolia Trace Apartments_ …

Sasuke was asleep in his one-bedroom apartment enjoying a nice dream when his cellphone went off. Sasuke reached over to his bedside table, and picked up his phone.

"Uchiha," Sasuke said as he answered the call.

"Sasuke," Shikamaru said over the other line, "It's me."

"Do you know what time it is you damn psychopath," Sasuke asked.

"Yea," Shikamaru said, "It's 5:13 A.M., and we have a case. I'm on my way to get you. I'm getting you out of bed whether you want to or not."

As the line cut, Sasuke climbed out of bed, and walked over to his dresser. He put on a pair of jeans, a simple blue shirt, his combat boots, the Egara Black Modern Fit Car coat his father bought him for the New York Trip, and his Alfani men's scarf.

Sasuke retrieved his badge, gun, phone, and wallet. As opened the door, he was proven right in getting his scarf. It was freezing that day, and the weather channel said it was going to be the same temperature for the rest of the week.

Sasuke walked out to the turn-circle just outside the main entrance of the apartments when Shikamaru pulled up.

"Morning," Shikamaru said as Sasuke opened the door, and stepped inside. As soon as Sasuke shut the door, and buckled in, Shikamaru held out a coffee cup, "Coffee?"

Sasuke took the cup, and took a quick sip after Shikamaru poured him a cup. "That's pretty good coffee," he said.

"I made it myself," Shikamaru said, "The key is to roast the beans the day prior to brewing."

"Thanks," Sasuke said, "Any food?"

"I was going to get donuts on the way," Shikamaru said, "Shipley's?"

"Perfect," Sasuke said.

The main street in Alexandria is Jackson Street. Four lanes stretching from a small gas station/ convenient store just one hundred yards away from Alexandria Senior High School to the foot of one of the three bridges that crossed the Red River leading into Pineville.

MacDonald's, Sonic, Chick-Fil-A, Wendy's, Burger King, Subway, two Grocery stores, a highway overpass, an Urgent Care Clinic that used to house a Blockbuster, and many more things are along this street.

Back when Sasuke first got his license, nine years prior, he would have gone to any one of them, but not Shipley's. The Shipley's Donuts on Jackson Street nine years prior was one of the most annoying places to go for Donuts. You asked for glazed cake donuts, they'd say they didn't have any, but they did have plain cake donuts. Even if you asked them to take the plain ones out and glaze them, they'd say no. Two years prior, however, Shipley's got new ownership and the standards went up.

As Shikamaru pulled up, he turned to Sasuke and asked, "What'll you have?"

"Cinnamon twist and a Big Earl Sausage & Cheese," Sasuke said.

Shikamaru leaned out the window and spoke, "A cinnamon twist, two Bear Earl Sausage and Cheeses, a bag of donut holes, and four coffees."

Sasuke pulled out his wallet, and handed Shikamaru a five, "That should cover mine." He said.

"Alright," Shikamaru said as he paid for the donuts, took the bag, the cups, and proceeded onward toward the crime scene.

A direct drive down Jackson Street very early in the morning is relatively easy when it gets around lunchtime and rush hour is when you see people shouting profanities at each other.

Downtown Alexandria is very much a beautiful picture of 1940s America meets Modern America. You have the Hotel Bentley that is right across the street from a Holiday Inn, and an old-school Irish pub right across from a modern restaurant.

Arriving at the crime scene, you could see the medical examiner was already there.

As Sasuke was just finishing his cinnamon twist, he walked up to Tsunade. "Morning," she said as she stood up to see Sasuke, "Never thought you'd be working on this did you?"

"On a crime at 5:30 in the morning," Sasuke asked as he watched Tsunade close her coat, "Here," he handed her one of the coffees he and Shikamaru picked up.

"Thanks," Tsunade said as she drank.

"What do we have," Sasuke asked.

"Armed robbery," Tsunade said as she walked around to the front of the truck, and pointed at the bullet hole in the grill, "First shot was aimed directly at the engine block which stopped the truck dead in its tracks."

"That's no small feat," Sasuke said as Shikamaru joined them.

"What is?," Shikamaru asked.

Sasuke pointed at the bullet hole, "Whoever did this took out the engine block," he said, "And most armored cars today are reinforced so that this particular thing doesn't happen."

"They got lucky," Tsunade said, "Bullet passed in between the grooves of the grill, and carved straight through the engine block."

"Let me take a close look at the bullet hole," Sasuke said as he pointed at the straps that held the hood shut, as they pulled the hood open, Sasuke crawled toward the bullet hole to see that it was a small diameter bullet, "That's a small diameter bullet. How could a bullet that small stop a reinforced truck?"

"Take a look," one of the techs said as they walked over to Sasuke carrying the fragments of the bullets.

Sasuke took the bullet, and observed the round, "How is it not mangled beyond reprieve?"

"Bullet hit the edge of the oil-intake valve, and was deflected out of the way of anything harmful," the tech said, "Seems to be by the grace of God."

As the techs left, Shikamaru held out his hand toward the bag which Sasuke handed him, "What happened to the driver and his partner," Sasuke asked.

"On their way to Rapides Regional," Tsunade said, "Men who shot at them probably didn't understand the meaning of 'bulletproof vests'. Shots landed on the outer-edges of the Kevlar plates."

"Guess that means we can keep Homicide off our case," Sasuke said.

"For now at least," Shikamaru said, "If those two die, then Homicide will be all over this investigation."

"Let me take a look in the back," Sasuke said as he walked around to the back of the truck, the key was still stuck in the lock, and the back was left wide open.

As he stepped into the back, he saw most of the unopened boxes inside the base were locked boxes, "What's it look like?," Shikamaru asked.

"Toss me those keys," Sasuke said as he pointed at the door.

Shikamaru took the keys out of the lock and tossed them at Sasuke who unlocked one of the boxes.

"What's inside?," Shikamaru asked.

"Cash," Sasuke said as he pulled out a stack of $100 bills, "Unmarked $100 bills, almost completely worthless, and illegal. These guys knew what they were after."

"The questions right now are: what is it they're after," Shikamaru said as he held up the evidence bag, "And what kind of firearm would use this?"

Sasuke walked to the back of the truck, and held out his hand which Shikamaru placed the bag into, "I think I might know someone who could identify this."

 _NG Beauregard Training Range, Pollock, LA_ …

The range out in Pollock was in no way local to Alexandria, but if you want to throw lead at your targets, then NG Beauregard is the place to go.

It's also the only place Sasuke knew where his old friend would be so early in the morning before her shop opened.

As they entered, they saw Tenten down at the range firing shots form her Ruger American .300 Winchester bolt-action rifle.

Tenten was dressed in a pair of U.S. Military combat boots, black jeans, a white shirt with red accents, a brown leather jacket, and had her hair up in a pair of double hair-buns.

As soon as the range-master declared a cease-fire, Tenten turned back to her station to see Sasuke walking towards her.

"Morning Tenten," Sasuke said as he walked up to her.

"Morning Sasuke," Tenten said, "You here to shoot?"

"Afraid not," Sasuke said as she showed her his badge.

"You did it," Tenten said as she stood up, and hugged him, "Congratulations."

"Thanks," Sasuke said as they pulled apart, and held out the evidence bag containing the slug, "We need your help."

Tenten whistled as she took the bag from Sasuke's hand, "That's a lot of lead," she said, ".45-90 at least, powerful round."

"There any modern rifles that can fire that kind of round," Shikamaru asked.

"Nope," Tenten said before gesturing toward her rifles on the table, "And none of the rifles I fired even come close to this. Odds are in this part of the world it's a Sharps," Tenten looked up at Sasuke, "Where'd you get this?"

"Dug it out the engine block of a Loomis armored car," Sasuke said, "Bullet glanced off the edge of one of the cylinders, and embedded itself inside the car's cup holders."

"This is a lucky bullet," Tenten said, "Most bullets like this when they hit an engine block would be shredded to pieces upon impact."

"Thanks, Tenten," Sasuke said as he took the bag back, "Do me a favor, as I recall, your father dealt in a lot of antique firearms. Think you could go through his books, and tell me if he ever did maintenance on any?"

"That'll be my first order of business when I get back to the store," Tenten said as she picked up her Ruger Redhawk Model 5032 Revolver, "They're about to call the range hot," Tenten slid on her glasses and ear protection, "I'll keep my ear to the ground."

"Thanks, Tenten," Sasuke said as he and Shikamaru walked off.

"How's she know so much about weapons," Shikamaru asked.

"Tenten," Sasuke asked as the men and women on the range began firing, "Her father's a retired cop who owns Akihiro Firearms in downtown Pineville."

"So, she grew up breathing guns," Shikamaru said as they entered his truck, "Where's that leave us?"

"We know the make of one of the guns that were used," Sasuke said, "I say we head to the corner to see if Tsunade is done with the autopsy of our unlucky robber."

 _Flashback_ …

One of the stops on Sasuke's graduation trip was to the World Trade Center Memorial, which was still under construction, while they couldn't get in to see it, the construction of the building let everyone know what the architect had in mind.

"What about reenlisting," Itachi asked, "Now that you have your degree, you could get your brass bars."

"There's an idea," Sasuke said, "Maybe rejoining isn't such a bad idea."

"Being an officer certainly isn't a bad idea," Itachi said as they walked up to the south fountain, "I know that serving filled me with a great sense of purpose."

"My time in did as well," Sasuke said.

 _End Flashback_ …

At the Coroner's office, Tsunade had just finished digging the bullets out of the unlucky robber's body.

"Anything," Sasuke asked.

"Good morning to you too," Tsunade said as she removed her gloves, "And I do have something," Tsunade turned down the lights, picked up a small black light, and held it over the robber's hand, "I sprayed the hand with a mixture of Sodium Rhodizonate and distilled water," as she turned on the lights, the unlucky man's hand glowed almost completely underneath the UV light, "Lot of gunshot residue."

"He was handling black powder," Sasuke said as he crossed his arms, and started counting on his fingers, "The outfit, an armored car, everything useless was left behind, a Sharps rifle, and excessive gun powder," he turned to Shikamaru, "This guy was roleplaying as a Wild West highwayman."

 _Guess what happens_ …


	6. Highway Robbery - Part 2

**Part 6 – The Highway Robbery – Part 2**

Arriving back at the station, Iruka had already set up the board, "Please tell me we have something," he said as Sasuke and Shikamaru entered.

"We learned these guys are cosplaying as Wild West Highwaymen," Shikamaru said as he sent a picture of the dead robber's leather trench coat and the UV image of the gunshot residue on the man's hand.

"We brought the slug to a friend of mine," Sasuke said, "She says the bullet that the techs pulled out of the engine was from a Sharps. Probably .45-90, but it could be higher."

"Any words on the guards?" Shikamaru asked.

"Still in surgery," Iruka said, "Got off the phone with the CEO of Loomis, and he's waiting on the status of the investigation."

"Tell him we're on it," Sasuke said, "Tell him we at least know what stopped his truck. Also, see if you can get a description of what the truck was carrying."

Sasuke and Shikamaru sat at their desks, "Why use a Sharps when there are other, more destructive weapons that can be used to stop an armored truck," Shikamaru asked.

"Those kind of weapons are expensive," Sasuke said, "And with the government clamping down on weapons like that it'd be pretty easy to track down the said weapon."

"Meanwhile if the gun was a family heirloom…" Shikamaru said.

"They wouldn't have to register it," Sasuke said, "Plus, a Sharps isn't a heavy as any modern day weapons that could shoot something that could bring an armored truck to a halt."

"A little weird don't you think though," Shikamaru asked, "A bunch of people carrying out some kind of Wild West Highwayman fantasy?"

"Not that weird," Sasuke said, "There are a whole bunch of people that want to live the Wild West Fantasy. There are even whole towns that are dedicated to living in the Wild West."

"Getting drunk on whiskey, carrying a revolver, shooting wild animals that crawl onto your property to kill your chickens," Shikamaru asked, "If it's alright with you, I'll take going to MacDonald's and getting a Big Mac and a Coke over going to the saloon and getting wasted while listening to piano music."

"I'm with you there partner," Sasuke said.

"Think we should be looking at the pawn shops," Shikamaru asked, "Isn't it standard criminal procedure to go to a pawn shop after a robbery like this?"

"And offload what," Sasuke asked, "We don't know what the truck was carrying so they could have been after anything."

It was then that the phone rang, "Nara, Robbery," Shikamaru said as picked up his phone, there was some commotion before Shikamaru looked up, "It's your friend Tenten, she's gone through her father's books, and she's found something for us."

"Let's go," Sasuke said as he stood up.

 _Flashback_ …

The next stop on Sasuke's trip was Katz's Deli, "What about working for some sort of Private Security company," Itachi asked, "You'd make triple what you were making in the Army?"

"Doesn't seem like such a bad idea," Sasuke said as he walked down the line, he already had the staples, a corned beef and pastrami sandwich Ruben style with a side of fries and half sweet and half sour pickles, all he needed was a coke.

As they took a seat, Fugaku and Mikoto took their seats as Sasuke started eating, "Pretty good?" Mikoto asked.

"Very," Sasuke said as he swallowed.

"Where should we go next," Mikoto asked.

"How about Union Square," Sasuke asked.

"They do have a very nice Capitol One there," Fugaku said as he looked at Sasuke, "We can get you access to the company's checking account."

"Come on dad, not now," Sasuke said, "Please not now."

"Now's as good a time as any," Fugaku said, "Man has to do something with his life."

 _End Flashback_ …

Akihiro Arms in Downtown Pineville right across the river from Alexandria isn't exactly one of the best places to be seen if you're a gun collector. You might occasionally see a WW1 Era Colt, a Colt New Service, or a Henry Yellow Boy rifle. But if you want to find a good price on a Glock or parts for your 1911 then Akihiro Arms is the place to be.

As Sasuke and Shikamaru entered, they saw Shino inside wearing his S.W.A.T. Uniform, "Shino, hey," Sasuke said as they entered, "Good to see you, buddy."

"You too man," Shino said a she turned around, and grabbed Sasuke's hand as it came in, "How's the Case against Richter going?"

"Goes to trial next week," Sasuke said, "Meanwhile he's sitting in the Federal Prison in Pollock until the trial goes to court."

"Glad me and the boys could help out," Shino said as Tenten came from the back of the store carrying Shino's Sig Sauer P226, "Here you go Shi-no."

Shino let out a small chuckle, "Always funny Tenten," Shino said, "Everything straight?"

"Everything," Tenten said, "I even test fired it a bit at the range, works beautifully."

"Thanks," Shino said then turned to Sasuke, "Hey, I was talking to Tenten when I came in, we were going to get some drinks tonight at Konoha around 8:00. Whole gang's gonna be there, you in?"

"Hell yeah, I'm in," Sasuke said as he bumped Shino's fist with his, "See you guys tonight."

"See you then," Shino said as he walked out of the store.

"Sure you can close that early," Sasuke asked.

"I'll make it work," Tenten said as she placed a handful of books on the counter in front of the two detectives, "Daddy kept a record of every gun he worked on from 1972 to a few years ago. I've already highlighted the Sharps Rifles he's worked on."

"Back when he retired," Sasuke said as he opened to the first tab Tenten put in the book, and looked down to the name, "Alright, March 2nd, 1973… Eric Strauss, Sharps Rifle, caliber .45-70."

"How many books are there," Shikamaru asked.

"I counted seven," Tenten said, "And at least two hundred and seven entries of Sharps Rifles."

"Shit," Shikamaru said, "There's no way we have that long to sift through seven books of entries on Sharps Rifles."

"Mind if we take these Tenten," Sasuke asked as he gathered the books in hand.

"Sure," Tenten said, "In the meantime, I'll see you tonight."

"You got it," Sasuke said as he and Shikamaru walked out.

"How'd you manage to swing that," Shikamaru asked.

"Swing what," Sasuke asked.

"Having drinks with SWAT Leader Shino," Shikamaru asked, "Guy's been known to be a bit of a hard-ass when it comes to having drinks."

As they climbed into the trunk, Sasuke spoke, "Me and Shino, we go way back, as does Naruto and Tenten."

"Army days," Shikamaru asked.

"Yep," Sasuke said, "Me, Shino, Tenten, and Naruto were all part of the same Intelligence Squad. Along with a few others."

Shikamaru drove back to the station where upon returning they found Iruka was waiting for them, "Tell me we have something," he said as he walked up to them.

"We do," Sasuke said as he placed the seven books down on the table, "We need to get a few guys from tech down here to get a listing of every last Sharps Rifle in this book. These are all the records of every gun that Akihiro Arms worked on the last forty-four years."

"Why'd you go to Akihiro Arms," Iruka asked as Shikamaru got a call on his phone.

"Tenten's father, David Akihiro the founder of Akihiro Arms made his living on restoring, modifying, and remaking classic weapons after he got back from Vietnam," Sasuke said, "He's the best in the State, and he happens to be among the cheapest. He was even trained by the gunmakers at Winchester, Colt, and Remington. If you wanted an accessory rail on your M1 Garand he could make it seem like it came out of the factory that way."

"So if someone were to bring him a Sharps Rifle in need of restoration…" Iruka began.

"And you were in Alexandria, you took it to David," Sasuke said, "And antique Sharps Rifles use black-power cartridges which corrodes the metal in the barrels. You don't clean them, they don't fire."

"And modern ones use smokeless charges," Iruka asked, "What makes you think it was a black powder cartridge?"

"The amount of gunpowder on our dead shooter's hand," Sasuke said, "If you're going to put that much effort into using black-powder revolvers, then why not use a black-powder rifle?"

"Excellent deduction, Uchiha," Iruka said, "I'll see if I can get a few guys down here to scan these books."

Shikamaru walked back into the room, "That was my girlfriend," he said, "She's having some car issues so I'm gonna go get her. Can you handle things for now?"

"Yea, sure," Sasuke said as the phone on his desk rang, "Uchiha, Robbery," there was some commotion over the phone, before Sasuke spoke, "Ok, I'll be right down."

"What is it," Iruka asked.

"That was the trauma center at Rapides Regional," Sasuke said as he stood up, "They have an update on the status of the guards."

"Once you're done, report back here," Iruka said.

"Yes sir," Sasuke said as he walked out of the squad room.

As a requirement, detectives have issued department vehicles but are sometimes grandfathered in to be able to drive various other types of cars, so long as they're not personal.

Shikamaru's truck wasn't his personal truck, it was department issued, but it had been modified on special order from his father.

The car that Sasuke was issued was a 2012 Dodge Charger, strapped behind the headrests on the rack behind the back seats was a Remington M24 chambered in .308 Winchester with an x12 scope.

The drive from the station to Rapides Regional Medical Center wasn't very long, but it did take Sasuke around a few turns.

Arriving at the hospital, he was greeted at the metal detectors by security who let him pass through when he flashed his badge.

Sasuke walked up to the front desk, and held out his badge, "Alexandria PD," he said, "I understand two Loomis employees came in around 5:30 this morning with gunshot wounds."

"Rooms 243," the receptionist said as she pointed down the left hall, "Down the hall, hallway on your right, elevator to the second floor, next to last room down the east hallway on your left."

"Thanks," Sasuke said as he walked down the hall to the elevator.

When he made it to the second floor, he walked down the east hallway to their rooms and found the guards sleeping off the anesthesia, the one on the right had his left leg held above the bed in a cast, and a large bandage on his chest.

The one on the left wore the same chest bandage as his partner and had a small bandage on his finger. It's a rare occurrence in GSW (Gun Shot Wound) injuries and occurs when the person shot it holding a gun, survives, gets their weapon caught in something, and someone tries to get them out of the position they were in fast without removing their finger from the trigger-guard.

When this happens, the finger is bent out of shape, and if not handled with care, the person trying to help the victim could literally tear the tip of the victim's finger off. In this case, the wound was only a break, not a tear.

"Can I help you," one of the nurses asked as she walked into the room carrying two I.V. bags.

"Yes," Sasuke said as he walked up to her, and showed his badge, "Detective Uchiha, Alexandria PD. I've been assigned the shooting of our two men here."

"Of course," the nurse said as she went to change the I.V. bags, "What can I do?"

"Can you tell me who the surgeon was that treated them," Sasuke asked, "There are a few things I need to clear up."

"They got in pretty rapidly so there wasn't time to get a surgeon on call," the nurse said, "We had Doctor Erickson perform the operation."

"Can you tell me where I can find him," Sasuke asked.

"Yes," the nurse said, "He's checking on the children in the extended care ward."

"Point the way please," Sasuke asked.

"Just down the hall," the nurse said, "Glass doors on your right."

"Thanks," Sasuke said.

Sasuke walked down the hall to the extended care area where he saw a young twenty-something-year-old doctor with blonde hair playing with several children.

Sasuke knocked on the door, drawing the attention of Erickson when he flashed his badge, Erickson turned to the kids, spoke something, and walked over to the door.

"Can I help you, officer," he asked as he stepped out the door.

"Detective Uchiha," Sasuke said as he held out his hand, "Nice to meet you, Doctor."

"You too," Erickson said, "What can I do for you?"

"I understand you were the one that operated on our two truck guards that were brought in this morning," Sasuke said, "Bullets landed on the outside edges of their Kevlar plates?"

"Yes," Erickson said.

"Can you show me the slugs," Sasuke asked.

"Yes," Erickson said as he gestured Sasuke to follow him, "Those two are very lucky," after walking down a few doors, they arrived at a small lab-like room filled with different kinds of instruments, "Here we are," he opened one of the cabinets to retrieve two bags of bloody bullets.

The smaller bag contained small metal pellets, the bigger bag contained lead balls, "Twelve gauge percussion rounds," Sasuke said as he then looked at the bigger bag, ".36 Cap and Ball rounds."

"That was my guess as well," Erickson said, "I've only seen this kind of bullets during Civil War reenactment accidents."

"I'm sure you've seen a lot of bullet wounds in your line of work," Sasuke said.

"I saw a lot more over in Iraq," Erickson said.

"No way, you're a veteran," Sasuke asked.

"Corpsman with the U.S. Marine Corps," Erickson said, "2nd Battalion, 7th Marines."

"War Dogs," Sasuke said as he held out his hand, "Right on man, I was U.S. Army."

"What division," Erickson asked as he grabbed Sasuke's hand

"109th Intelligence," Sasuke said, "I was the team's sniper."

"Sweet," Erickson said, "Sure you got some pretty good stories."

"Maybe we can swap them later," Sasuke said, "Right now I'm sure those kids do with playing with their friend."

"Thanks," Erickson said.

As Sasuke was leaving the hospital, he called Shikamaru, "Hey partner," Shikamaru said, "What's up?"

"I have an I.D. on two more of the weapons used in the robbery," Sasuke said, "A twelve-gauge percussion shotgun, and .36 caliber cap and ball revolver."

"You talked to the doctor," Shikamaru said.

"Yep," Sasuke said, "I'm going to grab some lunch, and head back to the precinct."

"Alright," Shikamaru said, "See you back there."

 _Guess what will happen next_ …


	7. Highway Robbery - Part 3

**Part 7 – Gold Standard**

Needless to say that Jubilees is a beautiful restaurant, the wooden high-tables could have belonged to a high-end restaurant chain.

The seats however were ruggedly simple, Mr. Denis was a recycling genius: he had bought a few hundred acres of land that had been felled by a forest fire, took all the burnt timber off the land, used that to build the chairs, and then resold the land.

Guests can come in and enjoy a nice burger and beer, or if you're feeling like spending a bit of money to impress a date or to impress someone high and power you can enjoy a glass of wine, have a few small plates, and a fine cigar.

Jonathan has a very nice selection of cigars from Flor de Oliva to Montecristo White Series Rothschildes.

"Sasuke," Jonathan said as he saw Sasuke come in, "There's a sight I wasn't expecting to see."

"I'm just here for lunch," Sasuke said as he walked over to his favorite table, "How're you doing?"

"Alright," Jonathan said, "Been a whole lot better since France delivered on their bounty."

"You got the several million," Sasuke asked.

"Yep," Jonathan said as he took a seat across from Sasuke who took his usual seat: a highchair facing he bar on the lower level of the restaurant, "All thanks to you."

"Good afternoon Sasuke," one of the waitresses said as she walked up to the table, and placed a napkin in front of Sasuke, "My name is Tiffany, and I will be your waitress."

The waitress was very beautiful, five-foot-seven, physically attractive, long blonde hair that was tied up in a high ponytail, brown eyes, and had a sultry southern voice that accompanied a smile that could light up a village.

"Tiffany," Sasuke said as he stood up, and hugged her, "It's been forever! How are you?"

Tiffany was on of Sasuke's friends from high school: she was the star of the Alexandria Senior High dance team, a high-scoring student all throughout her four years, and was an active participant in the school's drama club to which she produced her own play.

"Pretty good," Tiffany said as Sasuke took his seat, "You running Uchiha Plumbing now?"

"That's a big nope," Sasuke said as he pulled out his badge, "I made chose another line of work."

"Congratulations, detective," Tiffany said, "Can I get you a drink?"

"Coke please," Sasuke said, "No alcohol for me."

"I'll get that in," Tiffany said, "By the way, we should get together later and catch up."

"There's nothing I'd like more," Sasuke said.

"You know her," Jonathan asked.

"Yep," Sasuke said, "We were good friends in High School. We have a lot to thank each other for. She helped me pass math, and I helped her with a small situation."

"What situation," Jonathan asked.

"Are you crazy," Sasuke asked, "I know you, you'll hold that information over my head for the rest of my life."

"Come on Sasuke," Jonathan said, "You know you can trust me."

"It's exactly why I trusted you that I ended up talking my father into that deal to get the plumbing done in your house at an inflated discount," Sasuke said, "He still hasn't forgiven me for that."

"Here you go," Tiffany said as she placed Sasuke's coke in front of him, "What'll you have for today?"

"I'll have the Desiard special," Sasuke said.

"Make it two, Tiffany," Jonathan said.

Tiffany nodded, and the two of them continued their conversation, "How is it being a big-shot detective now," Jonathan asked.

"Big-shot," Sasuke asked, "I solve one case, and the man calls me a big shot."

"Don't sell yourself short," Jonathan said, "You've done well as a cop. Who knows, in a few years maybe you can apply for Sergeant?"

"Maybe," Sasuke said, "Right now, I'm fine right where I am."

"Right now, sure," Jonathan said, "But what happens when you get a few years under your belt? Find a nice girl, settle down, have a few kids? You're going to need the extra money then."

"Maybe," Sasuke said as he leaned back in his chair, "Just maybe."

"Here you go," Tiffany said as she placed the two Desiard specials in front of the two men: a 80% beef, 20% alligator patty mixed with some ground up beef fat (gives the patty extra flavor and juice), with sautéed green peppers, onions, and Creole mayonnaise (mayonnaise, Creole mustard, Creole/Cajun seasoning, and lemon juice) served with a side of fries seasoned with Creole seasoning just like the burger.

"Thanks, Tiff," Sasuke said.

"Repairs on the house are going good," Jonathan said as Sasuke began eating, "Thanks to many considerable contributions I'm thinking about expanding Jubilees. We're looking at places to open a second location."

"Good," Sasuke said, "Cops could always use a new bar location."

"That's funny," Jonathan said as he began with his fries, "What about the latest case?"

"Really weird," Sasuke said, "We're investigating an armed robbery that happened just a few blocks from here."

"It wasn't Chase was it," Jonathan asked.

"Nope," Sasuke said, "An armored truck employed by Loomis. It seems the robbers used black-powder revolvers as their main weapons, and a sharps rifle to stop the truck."

"Really," Tiffany asked as she returned with a refill on Sasuke's drink, "Sounds like my last meeting with the collector's club."

"You're part of a collector's club," Sasuke asked.

"Vintage weapon collector," Tiffany said, "We had a meeting a few days ago out at Woodworth. They had a couple guards out there with vintage Civil War weapons."

"They had a team competition," Sasuke asked.

"Yep," Tiffany said as she leaned back over the table, "They had a pretty good shooter on their Sharps rifle."

"How good," Sasuke asked.

"He made a three hundred yard bullseye with only one round," Tiffany said.

"There any other good teams," Sasuke asked, "Besides the team that beat you?"

"Oh," Tiffany said, "Cocky aren't we?"

"Come on," Sasuke said, "I could put together a team in one day, and we'd kick your ass up and down the range."

"Funny, funny," Tiffany said, "But yea, there was. They had a team from Loomis there. Guys with the Civil War weapons kicked their asses using black powder weapons while they used Glocks."

Sasuke's expression changed before pulling out his phone, and opening the photo he saved to his phone of the robber that wasn't luck that go around, "You remember this man," he asked as he held up his phone.

"Yes," Tiffany said, "He's the cute one that carried a 12-guage percussion, why?"

"You remember the names of the two Loomis drivers," Sasuke asked.

"Yes," Tiffany said, "Erickson and Luca, they weren't too bad looking themselves. Now can you answer me why?"

"I think you just helped crack this case wide open," Sasuke said as he stood up, pulled out a $20 bill, placed it on the table, and ushered Tiffany to follow him, then turned to Jonathan, "I'm going to have to borrow your waitress for a few hours."

 _Flashback_ …

A walk down Fifth Avenue was interesting, but what Sasuke was most interested in was what a small vendor was selling on the corner.

A small hotdog vendor named 'Brian's Doggies', his mascot on the front was a hotdog, in a bun spinning a top hat on top of a cane, wearing a monocle.

Sasuke had ordered him an Itachi two ginger ales, and one hotdog.

"Thanks," Sasuke said as he handed the vendor a $20, then took the stuff they ordered.

"Thanks bro," Itachi said as he took his drink, and the hotdog.

"I don't get why you had me order you a hotdog," Sasuke said, "Especially when we just ate lunch."

"I'm saving up for dinner," Itachi said, "Dad has made us a reservation at Gramercy Tavern. Which means, small portions, and high prices."

"I guess," Sasuke said, "Still, you shouldn't sell a place like this short. Its dad's money," Itachi and Sasuke began laughing as they continued to walk down the street, "Where'd mom and dad go by the way?"

"They went up the street to one of the many shops up ahead," Itachi said, "Probably to get mom a gift for tonight. We might have another little brother or sister on the way after this trip."

"Gross," Sasuke said with a cringe, "That's an image I didn't want."

"Like an image of you and one of your bunk mates back in Afghanistan," Itachi asked.

"You're disgusting," Sasuke said.

"What's disgusting is what you're going to be doing in few days if we can't find you a job before dad's deadline expires," Itachi said.

"Unclogging drains, fixing sewers," Sasuke began.

"Hey," Itachi said.

"Sorry," Sasuke said, "I swear, with dad it's almost impossible to talk him out of anything."

"I know," Itachi said, "You know I wanted to stay in the Army."

"Why didn't you," Sasuke asked, "It was a job, good pay."

"You have a way of detecting a person's heart," Itachi said, "Isn't that right, Sherlock Holmes?"

 _End Flashback_ …

Back at the station, Sasuke walked straight up to his desk, and contacted Loomis after pointing at the chair next to his desk, "Loomis Industries," the receptionist said.

"This is Detective Uchiha, Alexandria Robbery," Sasuke said, "I'd like to speak to your head of personnel."

"I'll connect you," the receptionist said.

"Sasuke," Shikamaru said as he walked up to the desk, "What are you doing?"

Sasuke quickly shushed him as the, "This is Michael Barker, Loomis head of personnel," he said.

"Mr. Barker," Sasuke said, "This is Detective Sasuke Uchiha, I'm the detective assigned to work the case about your injured drivers."

"Of course," Mr. Barker said, "Erickson and Luca. They still in the hospital?"

"Yes sir," Sasuke said, "Now I have a few questions. Have there been any other truck robberies in the surrounding area over the past few years?"

"Not over the last few years," Mr. Barker said, "Over the last few months though is another story."

"How many, and where," Sasuke asked.

"About six over the past six months," Mr. Baker said, "Interestingly they were all inside the boundaries of Rapides Parish."

"Could you send over the missing inventory reports from those others," Sasuke asked, "And at the time were the drivers attacked registered at a shooting competition?"

"I'll get right on that," Mr. Baker said, "And yes, all twelve of them."

"They all lose," Sasuke asked.

"Yes," Mr. Baker said, "Came in second behind an independent group."

"Are there any other of your drivers scheduled for a competition inside the boundaries of Rapides Parish," Sasuke asked.

"Yes," Mr. Baker said, "Why?"

"Mr. Baker, I want you to pull your drivers from the competition at once," Sasuke said, "We have reason to believe that the group that's been beating your men is if not behind, part of the crew that's been robbing your company's trucks."

"Can you prove that, Detective," Mr. Baker asked.

"How long between the competition and the robberies did these attacks occur," Sasuke asked.

"Three days each," Mr. Baker said.

"Are the drivers that you employed a little loose-lipped," Sasuke asked.

"Yes," Mr. Baker said.

"And also," Sasuke said, "I have an eye witness that identified one of the robbers killed by Luca as the one that handled one of the weapons used in the robbery."

"Your witness is sure of the identity," Mr. Baker asked.

"She wouldn't lie to me," Sasuke said as he looked up at Tiffany, "I trust her."

"Very well," Mr. Baker said, "I'll begin pulling our drivers from these competitions at once."

"Thank you, Mr. Baker," Sasuke said, "We'll let you know about Luca and Erickson."

"Thank you, Detective," Mr. Baker said, "You might have saved a few lives today."

"We'll save a lot more when we find these guys," Sasuke said, "I'll let you know if anything else develops. Have a good day."

"We have an eyewitness," Shikamaru asked as he ran around to sit at his desk, in front of Sasuke's.

"Right there," Sasuke said as he pointed at Tiffany, "Intro," he pointed at Tiffany, "Tiffany," he then pointed at Shikamaru, "Shikamaru, Shikamaru," he then pointed back at Tiffany, "Tiffany. We were having lunch when Tiffany said that she saw shooters sporting weapons matching the description of the ones used in the robbery at a shooting convention that our two guards resting down at Regional we at."

"That's not a lot to go on," Shikamaru said.

"She also identified our robber lying on the slab was the same one that used the 12-guage shotgun at the convention," Sasuke said, "If she can identify the others, we can get their pictures out on the media…"

"And then we swoop in a catch them off guard," Shikamaru said as he ushered Tiffany toward one of the sitting rooms at the back of the office, "I'll get a sketch artist."

It was then that Iruka walked up to Sasuke, "Who was that that just walked by with your partner," he asked.

"I think I got us a witness," Sasuke said, "She was at a gun competition a few days before the robbery. Both our victims were there, as was the man we have lying on the slab in Tsunade's office. She even identified the guns they used."

"Think she can get us a sketch," Iruka asked.

"She has a good memory," Sasuke said.

"In that case I think we have two things we can go on," Iruka said as he held out a piece of paper, "Inventory report finally came in on what the truck was carrying."

Sasuke looked over the report and when he saw what the truck was carrying, his eyes went wide, "No wonder they didn't go for the useless cash," Sasuke said as he looked at his CO, "They took four hundred and twenty five 1-ounce gold bars?"

"Forfeits seized by the bank," Iruka said, "Right now they're sitting on about a half a million in gold."

"Not to mention what they already have from the other robberies," Sasuke said, "If the score is anything like this one, they could be sitting on three million dollars, easy."

"They're not going to let that score go easily," Iruka said.

"Not without a fight," Sasuke said.

 _[dramatic music] what do you think_ …


	8. Highway Robbery - Part 4

**Part 8 – High Noon**

The sketches that Tiffany helped the sketch artist build were all men: one was of a Caucasian male in his late-thirties with thick sideburns that extended down the sides of his jaw.

The second was of a Hispanic male in his mid-twenties that had a thick, bushy mustache, and a very distinctive, deep scar on the right corner of his chin.

The third was another Caucasian male, probably early twenties with long hair, cleanly shaven, and had a mole above his right eyebrow.

"You're sure these are the men that you saw at the competition," Sasuke asked.

"One hundred percent," Tiffany said, "They had very distinct Cajun accents, and they drove a brand-new RAM 1500, white."

"Thanks, Tiff," Sasuke said as he slapped Tiffany on the arm, "Here's the deal: get Jack from school, go home, and call in sick tomorrow. I'll send some uniforms over to the house to keep you safe."

"Right away," Tiffany said.

As she was leaving, Iruka walked up to them, "This is it," Sasuke said as he held out the three pictures.

"Run these pictures through the database yet," Iruka asked.

"No, not yet," Sasuke said, "But Tiffany is absolutely sure that she saw these men at the competition and she even remembers they drove a white RAM 1500."

"Not exactly very cowboy like," Shikamaru said as he walked up to Sasuke.

"That's probably because they're using it as a get-away vehicle," Sasuke said, "They park about a mile away, use the horses to get to the scene of the robbery, rob the trucks, take the horses back, load up the horses, and drive away. Since horses aren't registered as motor vehicles there's no legal way of tracking them outside of tracking chips."

"We could put an APB out on these men," Shikamaru said, "With the right amount of press on this, we should have a few tips on them within a few hours."

"I'll see who to talk to," Iruka said as he walked over to the copier, and made three copies of each drawing, then walked back to Sasuke and Shikamaru, "In the meantime, run these drawings through the facial recognition database, see if any of them have previous histories, and see if any of them own a RAM 1500."

"Yes sir," Sasuke said.

 _Flashback_ …

Gramercy Tavern was exactly as advertised, not upscale, but defiantly more of a dress-shirt type of place, at least the Tavern half of the restaurant was.

The first thing Sasuke and Itachi did before getting back to the hotel was get a falafel with as much as they could on it, "Maybe you could go hook up with Cousin Eric out at LA," Itachi said, "See if we can get you a job with the Park Rangers?"

"Maybe," Sasuke said, "But Park Ranger isn't exactly my stick."

"You got to think of something," Itachi said as the two of them threw the wrappers into the nearest trash can, "To be honest, I'm just not sure above dad hiring you. You don't really have any formal training."

"I know that," Sasuke said, "Dad wants me to sign up at the plumber's school that he went to."

"I can see it now," Itachi said, "The plumbing class of 2014. Your motto will be 'we're the shit'."

Sasuke and Itachi broke up laughing as they entered the elevator, what they would hear when they were entering their family's suite would be the thing that would haunt their dreams for the rest of their lives.

 _End Flashback_ …

Local News Anchor Sheridan Rayner was sitting at his desk when he was handed a special bulletin.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I am just being handed a notice," Sheridan said, "Alexandria Police have identified three men with suspected ties to an armored car robbery from earlier this morning," the artist renderings then appeared on the screen, "If you have any information on anyone matching these photos please submit a tip to the Alexandria Police. If you see these men, do not approach them, they are to be considered armed an extremely dangerous."

Within fifteen minutes, the three pictures were being broadcasted across every last New Station in Alexandria, and within five minutes, every last phone in the station was going off with anonymous tips.

"Of course," Sasuke said as he was writing the information the lady on the other line was giving him, "Thanks. Have a good day ma'am."

He tore the page out of his notebook and handed it to the Sergeant picking up tips.

"Can you believe this," Shikamaru asked as he put down the phone to hand his page to the Sergeant, "We get a couple pictures on the TV, and suddenly we're swamped."

"Hopefully a few of these pay off," Sasuke said.

"You might be more right than you think Sasuke," Iruka said as he walked up to his two detectives, and handed Sasuke a small note to Sasuke, "A teller down at CenLA Federal Credit Union remembers highwayman number one coming in with a large bag, and reserved one of the bank's larger safe deposit boxes."

"What are you willing to bet that when we get there we'll find some form of contraband in the box he took out," Shikamaru asked.

"How long before we can get a search warrant," Sasuke asked.

"Done," Shikamaru said as he held the warrant out, "Curtsey of Judge Jiraiya Malone."

"Now we know how you get warrants out so fast," Shikamaru said.

"Just get down to the bank," Iruka said.

Judge Jiraiya Malone, the tallest, and most muscular 42-year old male with white hair you'd ever meet. Before running, and winning his seat as Alexandria District Court Justice in a landslide victory he was Deputy Chief of the Alexandria Police, chalking up nearly three hundred arrests with a 90% conviction record.

 _CenLA Federal Credit Union_ …

As Sasuke and Shikamaru walked into the bank, and through the metal detector, they quickly pulled aside their coats to reveal their badges.

"Can I help you two, gentlemen," the teller asked as he looked up to see them.

"Yes," Sasuke said, "We received a tip that a man fitting the description of a man we've been searching for has opened a safety deposit box here. We need to take a look inside."

"I'm afraid I can't do that," the teller said, "To do so would be a breach of our client's confidentiality."

"Well asking nicely didn't work," Shikamaru said as he reached into his pocket, "Then I'll make this easy," he handed the search warrant to the teller, "This warrant says if you don't let us look into that safety deposit box, we have the right to arrest you and anyone else who says we can't look into that box for obstruction of justice."

The teller handed the warrant back to Shikamaru as he picked up the phone, "Mr. White, could you come down here," he asked, "There are two cops with a warrant to search one of the boxes."

Five minutes later, a man about forty years of age came down to the ground floor, "You are the officers," Mr. White asked.

"Yes," Sasuke said, "You remember this man," he held out the picture of the first man Tiffany described.

"Yes," Mr. White said, "Mr. Morgan. I saw his picture on the news, and I could scarcely believe it."

"Well believe it," Sasuke said, "Could you please take us to his safe deposit box?"

"Of course," Mr. White said, "This way please."

Mr. White led Sasuke and Shikamaru into the back, and unlocked a large twelve-inch by fourteen-inch box when Mr. White unlocked it, he pulled out a ten-inch by twelve-inch box that was roughly sixteen inches long.

As he pulled it out, it was quite obvious that he was struggling to lift it, "Open it," Sasuke said.

"I don't have the key," Mr. White said.

"Bullshit," Sasuke said, "Each bank has an extra key in case of emergencies. Go get it, now."

Mr. White walked out to the teller's desk and pulled out a small, brass key. When he returned, he handed it to Sasuke who opened it and instantly found what they were looking for.

"Bingo," Shikamaru said.

Sasuke reached in and produced stacks of 10-ounce gold bars, large silver coins, and stock certificates.

"Gold bars, silver coins," Sasuke said, "These guys must have hundreds of thousands of dollars here."

"Not to mention what these stocks are worth," Shikamaru said as he looked through the certificates before looking up at Mr. White, "Who did you say this unit is registered to?"

"Mr. Morgan," Mr. White said, "His name is listed in full as David Morgan."

"It's an alias," Sasuke said.

"No doubt," Shikamaru said as he held out the stocks, "Look at the kind of stocks they have, railroads, tech companies, even casinos."

"All owned by people who I'd imagine would be very happy to see these returned," Sasuke said, "Get on the horn and see if you can get anyone from Loomis down here to reclaim this stuff," he then turned to Mr. White, "In the meantime, Mr. White, there is something very special you could help us with."

 _Two hours later_ …

The man fitting the first person's description entered the bank, and walked straight up to the counter, the teller was facing the wall with his back to the counter.

"Excuse me," he said.

"Yes, can I help you," the teller asked as he was counting money on the counter, his back still turned to the suspect.

"I need to check my safety deposit box," he said.

"And your name sir," the teller asked.

"David Morgan," he said.

"Ah yes, Mr. Morgan," the teller said as he turned around to reveal Sasuke his P226 in his right hand, and his badge in the other, "I've been expecting you."

The man turned around only for Shikamaru to appear behind him, his Glock 22 trained on him, "Don't think about it," he said.

Sasuke walked around the counter, pulled out a set of cuffs, forced the suspect's arms behind his back, and locked them in place.

What he pulled out next confirmed he was the person they were looking for: hidden in a pocket inside his coat, just within drawing distance was a Remington Model 1861.

 _Back at the station_ …

"So this is suspect number one," Iruka asked.

"Yes sir," Sasuke said as he held a file on him, "The second we got back, the computer found his record," Iruka took the file and opened it to study his previous charges, "His real name isn't David Morgan, it's Arthur Peterson, and he's got a rap sheet stretching back to when he was twelve."

"It says his father was Richard Peterson," Iruka said, "I ran into him several times when I was a patrol officer. He was Alexandria's de-facto town drunk in every sense of the term."

"That bad eh," Sasuke asked.

"Out of the one hundred and seventy-three arrests I made as a patrol officer, Richard Peterson counts for about sixty of those," Iruka said, "I would usually find him lying in the alley next to Sticks. The chief adopted a catch and release policy just for him."

"And his mother," Sasuke asked.

"Working almost all the time," Iruka said, "Two jobs, one as a clerk at the library, the other as a desk agent at the Bentley Hotel. After it closed down, she took another job working the night shift at the Holiday Inn."

"Absent parents equals kid grows up to be a criminal," Sasuke said, "What I don't get is why he would join a gang of stick up men cosplaying as 19th-century highwaymen."

"I would bring Richard home most nights," Iruka said, "Arthur would often answer the door. He would always answer the door dressed in cowboy pajamas carrying a fake revolver."

"Little boy who loved cowboys from the beginning now becomes one," Sasuke said.

"Bet I could get something out of him," Iruka said.

"Go ahead," Sasuke said.

Sometimes a family tie is the best way to get through to a suspect, in this case Iruka's help was all they needed to track down the other members.

He even gave up their names: Patrick Quinten & Michael Nunez.

Arthur put his two compatriots at the Quality Inn just off of Highway 165, as the two of them arrived, they strapped on their vests, and walked up to see the two of them drinking on the second floor balcony of the hotel.

"Patrick Quinten, Michael Nunez," Sasuke said as they looked up at the two of them, and held up his bade, "Alexandria Police, you're under arrest."

"How do you know us," Michael asked.

"I'll leave that to the judge," Sasuke said.

"Indeed," Patrick said as he immediately drew his Remington 1861, cocked the pistol, and fired.

The gun accidently chain-fired, and exploded in his hand, the shrapnel from the gun parts took half his thumb, the tip of his index finger, and the very tip of his middle off while the resulting shrapnel tore up his arm, and the right side of his chest.

Michael drew his and fired, his didn't chain-fire, and hit Sasuke on the right side of his stomach.

As he dropped, Shikamaru opened fire, causing Patrick and Michael to jump back into their room as Shikamaru dragged Sasuke into cover.

"Ah fuck," Sasuke said.

"You're hit," Shikamaru said.

"It's alright," Sasuke said as he helped his partner remove his vest.

They then lifted up his shirt to reveal all he had was a serious bruise forming on his side.

"No telling what they've got in there," Shikamaru said, "They're not afraid to kill cops. They know what's coming."

"You got something in the truck," Sasuke asked.

Shikamaru opened his truck, and pulled out a Bushmaster XM-15, "This work," he asked.

"Perfect," Sasuke said as he took the rifle, "I'll cover you."

"You're injured," Shikamaru said.

"Just go," Sasuke said, "I can still shoot."

Sasuke switched the rifle to semi-auto, took aim at the window, and as Michael raised the shotgun out of the window to shoot, Sasuke fired three times, causing him to take cover as Shikamaru ran up to the second floor.

Michael blind-fired out the window, shooting the ground in front of Shikamaru's truck.

Sasuke then turned back to the window, and fired several more shots, shattering the glass, and sending Michael diving for cover.

Michael simply aimed right out the door, and as he did, he felt the polymer casing of a Glock pistol pressing against the side of his head.

"Think real hard about your next move," Shikamaru said.

 _Saint Francis Cabrini_ …

"I was wondering when we'd add you to our injured detective's wall," Shikamaru said as he and Sasuke waited for the person to take care of Sasuke's wound.

The bruise was about foot long, half a foot wide, and had a very ugly welt in the center where the bullet hit.

"Real funny," Sasuke said as he looked up to see the doctor coming to see him.

"I was wondering when I'd see you here," Sakura said as she entered.

"Sakura," Sasuke said, "This is a surprise."

"You made a real mess of yourself this time," Sakura said, "Almost as bad as the time you and Erik Strauss had that fight after he slapped me when I turned him down for a date."

"If I remember correctly I won that fight," Sasuke said, "And all I got was a bloody nose."

"And he got a black eye," Sakura said, "And a referral for slapping a woman."

"I'll let you two talk," Shikamaru said, "See you tomorrow, partner."

"See you buddy," Sasuke said.

"Let's take a look at that," Sakura said.

"Sure," Sasuke said as he removed his shirt.

"Not too bad of a bruise," Sakura said, "A lot worse than what I saw down at Rapides Regional when I was an intern."

"What's the cure doc," Sasuke asked.

"Well the good news is the Kevlar saved you from the bullet," Sakura said as she pulled out some gauze, "Unfortunately you do have a broken rib so I am going to have to bandage it."

"What about duty," Sasuke asked.

"You should be ok," Sakura said as she began patching the wound.

"What about having a drink," Sasuke asked.

Sakura stopped to look up at him, "What," Sakura asked.

"You heard me," Sasuke said, "The old gang is going to meet up at Konohana tonight for a few drinks. You want to come?"

"I certainly wouldn't mind," Sakura said as she tied off the bandage.

"How long before you get off," Sasuke asked.

"I get off at eight," Sakura said.

"I'll pick you up," Sasuke said.

8:15…

"There he is," Naruto said as Sasuke entered with Sakura.

Naruto was standing behind the bar with his girlfriend, Hinata, sitting at the bar was Shino, Tenten, Sai, the team's assistant machine-gunner in Afghanistan, now owner of Sai's repair shop, and Ino, the team's B&E specialist in Afghanistan, now the town's premiere florist, working side-by-side with her mother.

"Hey guys," Sasuke said as he walked up to the bar.

"You invited her," Shino asked.

"You know it," Sasuke said as he took his seat at the bar, Sakura right next to him.

"So," Naruto said as he placed the glasses in front of the group, and poured them each a single drink, "What are we drinking to?"

"I don't know about you," Sasuke said as he took his glass, "But I would like to make a toast to Alexandria. This town does things to you. It'll take care of you if you love it, it'll chew you up if you hate it. But one thing it will do is it'll bring people together. When we left High School, we all swore that we'd never return to find jobs here, but here we are. Sitting at a bar that is owned by one of our friends, two of us carrying badges for Alexandria Police, one of us fixing weapons for Alexandria natives, one of us fixing cars for Alexandria natives, one fixing Alexandria natives, and one making flower bouquets for Alexandria natives. To our home town."

"Our home town," everyone said as they downed their drinks, and slammed them onto the bar.

 _End of Episode 2_ …


	9. Trouble at Chinatown - Part 1

**Part 9 – Trouble in Chinatown…**

The area around the Alexandria mall is nothing much to look at, but there are a few decent places, a restaurant or two, just down the street on the south side of the mall in three directions is the only Target in Alexandria, the only Bowling Alley & Laser-tag arena in Alexandria, and the only remaining movie theatre in Alexandria (it's a small town so you won't miss much).

The Chinatown Buffet on Memorial Drive on the west side of the mall is a decent place to sit down and eat as much as you can with family.

At 6:47, one week following the Loomis robberies, however…

Multiple rapid gunshots from some kind of handgun shattered the peacefulness of the morning.

A man with long, black hair, wearing jeans and a baby-blue shirt ran as fast as he could across Memorial Drive, his hand was covered in a thick, paper bag.

 _Rollcall, Alexandria Police station, 9:00 A.M._

"Morning gentlemen," Iruka said, "Let's begin today. Detectives, Akimichi, Lee, you'll be working Robbery today. The address is 112 Elizabeth Street," as Chōji and Rock left, he looked at Sasuke and Shikamaru, "Uchiha, Nara, you'll be working Homicide today. The address is the Chinatown Buffet on Memorial Drive. Uniforms are already down there, so get going."

As Sasuke and Shikamaru left, Shikamaru posed the question, "Who do you suppose the victim is, one of the customers?"

"After eating the amount of food you usually eat there, you wouldn't be dead," Sasuke said, "But you would need Nasogastric intubation to clear out that much blockage."

"How's the rib coming along," Shikamaru asked.

"It's ok," Sasuke said, "It hurt a lot worse a few days ago, but Sakura's been giving me medication for it."

"You and Sakura seem to enjoy spending time together now," Shikamaru said.

"We're old friends," Sasuke said, "Of course we do."

"Come on," Shikamaru said as he nudged Sasuke in the ribs, "You know what I mean."

"Hey, easy there," Sasuke said, "I already have one broken rib, I don't need another."

"Don't worry about it," Shikamaru said, "You get another broken rib, and Sakura can patch you up."

"Indeed," Sasuke said as they walked down the stairs toward the exit, "She didn't go to Afghanistan with our team, but we are lucky to have her here."

"Indeed," Shikamaru said, "So tell me, your service record says you left a Staff Sergeant, but you were only in for four years."

"Where'd you find my service record," Sasuke asked.

"It's in the database," Shikamaru said, "You entered it when you applied to the academy."

"It was an act of God really," Sasuke said as they exited the building, and walked to Shikamaru's truck, "I was a First Class Private when it happened. We were on a night-time intelligence op in a remote village in the Helmand Province. The insurgents knew the area better than we did, and we were under fire before we knew it."

"Your CO went down," Shikamaru asked as they entered his truck.

"Yep," Sasuke said as he gestured to his leg, "A well-placed round took his leg off below the knee. Our Sarge went down right after, it was me that rallied the unit to fight back. We were able to get our CO out alive, but we couldn't get out yet. We stretched our ammo as far as we could until we were rescued. All in all, we survived about two and a half hours of fighting before backup arrived."

"What kind of backup," Shikamaru asked as he turned onto Masonic Drive.

"Two AH-64s armed with 30mm chain guns, and hellfire missiles," Sasuke said, "For a Private First Class that had only been in the Army for two years to rally the troops and hold off an enemy offensive like that, they were impressed enough to give me a few accommodations, and a promotion."

"Seems you have an impressive background," Shikamaru said as he turned onto Memorial Drive, "You ever think about trying about for Spec Ops?"

"Rangers, Green Berets," Sasuke asked, "I entertained the idea. But dad kept pestering me until I left. I knew if I hadn't stopped, he would have never left me alone."

As Shikamaru turned into the parking lot, they saw the uniforms standing outside, and had already tapped off the area. The outer entrance door which was almost completely glass was shattered, as was the inner entrance door.

"What have we got," Shikamaru asked as they entered the restaurant to find several uniformed officers inside.

"In the kitchen," Officer Park said as he led the men into the back, "Victim's name is Johnny Trang, he's the owner."

"You know him," Shikamaru asked as he looked at Sasuke.

"Not well," Sasuke said, "My family and I used to come here a lot to eat. My dad talked to him a few times. So did my mom."

They walked into the back, Sasuke noticing the large boot-print on the door, and as they entered the kitchen, they saw the owner lying face down on the floor in a pool of blood, and a large cleaver with a 7 1/2 inch blade lying just a few centimeters from his hand.

"Tsunade," Sasuke said as they walked up to him, "What have we got?"

"Victim was shot nine times in the chest and twice in the head," Tsunade said, "Looks like large caliber bullets."

"Can you estimate time of death," Sasuke asked.

"Based on temperature, I'd say sometime between five and seven this morning," Tsunade said.

"Witnesses," Shikamaru asked.

"None so far," Officer Park said, "Security cameras on the advanced payment place next door captured footage of a male with long, black hair breaking in around 6:30 A.M., there were fourteen shoots, eleven in quick succession, three about a minute later, and then the suspect running out of the restaurant at about 6:47. His wallet is missing and the cash register has been cleared out. Robbery gone wrong?"

"Breaking in by smashing a window, and shooting a man eleven times," Sasuke asked, "You don't do that if you're looking to steal petty cash. The only reason you'd shoot a man almost a dozen times is if you have a vendetta. Whoever did this was looking to kill, and they were angry."

"Yes," Shikamaru said, "But this man was shoot eleven times, and there were fourteen shots recorded by the camera. Where are the other three bullets?"

"They aren't in him," Tsunade said, "I'll try and get him back to the lab and get started on a autopsy."

"What'd he use to break in," Sasuke asked.

"His boot," Officer Park said, "There was a sweep done, and we found one thing," Officer Park held up a bloody piece of glass.

"His," Sasuke asked.

"I'll know once I get it back to the lab," Tsunade said.

"Any of the employees arrived," Sasuke asked.

"Got here just a few minutes before yourself," Officer Park said as he pointed toward the party room in the back, "Left them in there for you."

"Bring them into the main dining room one at a time," Sasuke said, "Maybe it would be best if we interviewed them separately."

"I'll get the booth on the right," Shikamaru said, "You get the left."

Sasuke's first interviewee was the store's manager, "Hello Ms. Wong," Sasuke said.

"Sasuke," Ms. Wong said as she sat down in front of him.

"I'm sorry about your loss," Sasuke said.

"You mean sorry I could be out of a job," Ms. Wong asked.

"Yes," Sasuke said, "How well did you know Mr. Trang?"

"I was his restaurant manager," Ms. Wong said, "I looked over his books, kept his food-costs in check. We would meet from time to time, but that's it."

"Nothing else," Sasuke asked.

"He was a hopeless flirt," Ms. Wong said, "Every woman he saw he would briefly flirt with."

"With you," Sasuke asked.

"Sometimes," Ms. Wong said, "I resisted."

"Do you know of any enemies Mr. Trang might have had," Sasuke asked.

"He was fairly private about his personal life," Ms. Wong said, "But there was an incident a few weeks ago."

"Incident," Sasuke asked.

"Mr. Trang used to have a business partner," Ms. Wong said.

"You remember his name," Sasuke asked.

"Yes," Ms. Wong said, "Adam Marco. Mr. Trang didn't tell us what happened when they dissolved their partnership, but from what I could tell about the incident, it must have been pretty nasty."

"Tell me about the incident," Sasuke asked.

"It was about two weeks ago," Ms. Wong said, "Adam stormed in here during diner service, and demanded to see Mr. Trang. As soon as I called him to the front, and he saw Adam, I swore I had never seen Mr. Trang so angry. As soon as they went into the back, you could hear the yelling from the front desk."

"Did you hear any of the conversation," Sasuke asked.

"Only parts of it," Ms. Wong said, "I remember Adam saying 'you owe me money', 'I want what you owe me', something like that."

"How bad did this argument get," Sasuke asked.

"I heard a crashing in the back office," Ms. Wong said, "And Adam stormed out. When I went back there, Mr. Trang's computer was smashed, it looks like it had been thrown across the room."

"This Adam must have a temper," Sasuke said.

"I guess so," Ms. Wong said, "It left a pretty sizeable dent in the wall."

"Does Mr. Trang keep any money in his office," Sasuke asked.

"Yes," Ms. Wong said, "But only he knows the combination."

"Interesting," Sasuke said, "Thank you Ms. Wong."

As soon as Ms. Wong stood up and left, Shikamaru walked over to Sasuke, "Just go through talking with the Kitchen Manager," he said, "Turns out Mr. Trang had a pretty loud argument with someone two weeks ago."

"A man by the name of Adam Marco," Sasuke asked.

"Yes," Shikamaru said, "It seems that Adam believes that Mr. Trang still owed him money."

"It's defiantly a motive," Sasuke said, "Keep interviewing," he stood up, "I'm going to check on something."

He walked into Mr. Trang's office to see that the safe he kept behind his desk, and what he suspect was confirmed: there were three bullet holes in the combination knob, and a large amount of dents in the knob.

The man that killed Mr. Trang tried to shoot off the safe's knob, and steal whatever was inside.

When shooting the knob off failed, he tried to bash it off with his pistol.

He walked back into the room, and looked at his partner who was finishing up another interview, "Hey Partner," Shikamaru said as he stood up to walk over to him, "I think I have something," he pointed to the man he had just interviewed, "That was the Head Chef. Turns out him, Mr. Trang and Adam Marco went into this together. Adam was supposed to be the Head Chef, he was supposed to be the Culinary Director, and Mr. Trang was supposed to be the owner. Seems Mr. Trang didn't like the way Adam was making the food, and used a loophole in the contract all three of them signed to fire him. Apparently they is also a clause that entitles Adam Marco to every penny he put into this restaurant."

"How much," Sasuke asked.

"One hundred and fifty thousand," Shikamaru said.

"Powerful motive," Sasuke said, "Think you could get us a copy of that agreement that they signed?"

"Way ahead of you," Shikamaru said as he held up his phone to show that he had the Head Chef email him a copy, he then scrolled to a small section that he highlighted, "I think you'll find this interesting."

"In the even that one of the partners is suspended, they will be entitled to getting the full sum of the money they put into the restaurant," Sasuke read, "Should not enough money be available, one member remaining in the partnership will be designated to help raise the remainder of what is due to the partnership."

"Apparently this substantiation was supposed to be paid out by Mr. Trang," Shikamaru said, "And that the payout was in the form of a check that bounced."

"Powerful motive," Sasuke said, "Let's see if we can get a few units down to his house. I think one thing we should do is get into Mr. Trang's safe, there was something in there our gunman wanted, maybe it's time we found out."

 _What do you think_ …


	10. Trouble at Chinatown - Part 2

***Before we begin I would like to say something I forgot to say in the previous chapter: this story is based on real-life events, the names and the crime have been changed to protect the innocent…**

 **Part 10 – Trouble in Chinatown – Part 2**

Back at the station, Sasuke and Shikamaru were briefing their superior on the case.

"So far we know that the motive wasn't robbery," Sasuke said, "A common thug doesn't shoot a random stranger twelve times if they want to get into his vault."

"You're thinking premeditated homicide," Iruka asked before turning to Shikamaru, "What do you think?"

"I honestly think that Sasuke is right," Shikamaru said, "This was a crime that required very strong emotions, the only reason you would shoot someone a dozen times unless you're unbelievably angry."

"What about that safe you had brought here," Iruka asked.

"Whoever shot Mr. Trang wanted what was in that safe," Sasuke said, "Maybe if we get it open, we can find out our motive."

"Is there any luck in tracking down this business partner of his," Shikamaru asked, "The one that threw Mr. Trang's computer across the room?"

"Adam Marco," Sasuke asked, "He's completely clean so no photograph, no record, no fingerprints, and no DNA on file. There is no way we can track him down unless we start getting anonymous tips."

"Did Mr. Trang have any other enemies," Iruka asked.

"He was a restaurant owner," Sasuke said, "Rival owners, former tenants of the building you name it. Right now we're trying to sift through a list of suspects so long we'll probably have to set up a queuing line that runs around the building to interview everyone."

"This is the kind of case that's not going to be fast like the last one," Shikamaru said.

"No shit," Sasuke said.

"Alright," Iruka said, "I'll have the safe kept in the evidence room, and I know a safecracker who can make it up from the Capitol. Meanwhile, ask around, regardless of brashness or not someone must know something."

"Sir," Sasuke and Shikamaru said as they walked out of their boss's office, and back to their desks.

"Where do you think we should get started," Shikamaru asked as he looked up at Sasuke.

"I was going to ask you that," Sasuke said, "Right now we have absolutely zero shortage of suspects, and our primary suspect is nowhere to be found."

"Detective Uchiha," one of the patrol officers said as he walked up to Sasuke's desk.

"Yes," Sasuke asked.

"We have a Mr. Uzumaki here to see you," the officer said, "He says he might know something about Mr. Trang's homicide."

Sasuke looked at the door to see Naruto standing there holding a small manila envelope, "Bring him into the break area," he said, "I'll interview him there."

As Sasuke walked into the interview area, he made a quick cup of coffee and placed it on a small coaster where he wanted Naruto to sit.

The patrol officer opened the door, and ushered Naruto in, "Sasuke," Naruto said.

"Hey buddy," Sasuke said as he pointed at the couch in front of the coffee table.

"I heard about Mr. Trang," Naruto said, "Horrible."

"How'd you hear about it so fast," Sasuke asked, "We just got back from the crime scene half an hour ago."

"KALB broadcasted it just fifteen minutes ago," Naruto said as he pulled out his phone, opened the headline, and handed it to Sasuke.

The timestamp on the story was just twenty minutes prior, the story went: Alexandria Police this morning responded to a report of shots fired at the Chinatown Buffet. An unnamed source among the Alexandria Police is reported has identified that the owner of the restaurant, Mr. Trang was found dead from multiple gunshot wounds. Police are now on the hunt for Mr. Trang's former business partner, Adam Marco who is believed to have an unspecified connection to Mr. Trang's murder.

Sasuke pinched the bridge of his nose, and sighed, sometimes when an officer gets to seeing an attractive they get loose-lipped and start talking on things that should never be disclosed to the public. Now Adam Marco knew that the police were looking for him, and if he read that, then there's a chance he'd run and the possibility that they'd never see him.

"Ok," Sasuke said as he handed Naruto his phone back, "Just tell me what you know."

"As soon as I saw the name Adam Marco, I knew there was something I could help you with if you didn't have this," Naruto said as he held out the envelope to Sasuke, "Adam Marco came into the bar last week looking for a job as a cook. He gave me his resume, and the current address is on it."

Sasuke took the envelope from Naruto, opened it, and the resume was completely filled out, his address was listed as Apartment 24Q in the Nottingham Apartments on Queen Elizabeth CT.

"Thanks for that Naruto," Sasuke said as he slapped his friend on the shoulder, "Is there anything else you know?"

"Actually, yes," Naruto said as he pointed to the cup of coffee that Sasuke poured for, and Sasuke signaled for him to go ahead, "When Mr. Marco was talking to me, he made it a point to tell me that he had worked at another restaurant in the area and that they owed him money. It seemed like he departed on bad terms because he was talking all kinds of bad things about one of his former business partners," Naruto put the cup down after a few sips, "He said things like, 'That bastard owes me money', 'The jackass royally screwed me', 'I'm a better man than he'll ever be'. It seemed he harbored deep animosity for him."

"Unfortunately I can't talk to you about that," Sasuke said, "Regardless of whether or not we're friends, what happens during an investigation cannot be divulged to the public. It's one of those things that the department is really picky about."

"I wasn't going to ask," Naruto said, "Does make me a bit nervous though. He's gone after a few restaurant owners in town, of course, I've never had in problems with him, and suddenly he turns up dead."

"Well he's always wanted to privatize the Alexandria food scene," Sasuke said, "90% of the restaurants in this town are big-name chains. Meanwhile here you are, Konoha has been around since your grandfather, and here you are as one of the most successful restaurateurs in town."

"Speaking of which," Naruto said as he stood up, "I'm afraid I have to get back to Konoha. The restaurant isn't going to run itself."

"Ok," Sasuke said as he stood up to give Naruto their obligatory goodbye fist-bump before picking up the resume, "I'm going to keep this."

"Go right ahead," Naruto said, "I'll see you later bro."

"See you," Sasuke said.

As Naruto walked out of the station, Sasuke walked up to Shikamaru's desk, "Please tell me that's what I think that is," he said.

"If you think it's a resume Adam Marco filled out at Naruto's restaurant last week, with his current address on it, then you would be absolutely correct sir," Sasuke said as he handed the file to his partner.

"Sweet," Shikamaru said as he looked at the file, "Let's get down there, and start asking."

 _Flashback_ …

Next stop on the Uchiha senior trip list was to The Center of the Universe, Times Square.

I don't know another way of describing Times Square other than awe-inspiring, especially at night, but of course, they didn't go there at night: they went to Times Square right in the middle of Lunchtime which was the single most asinine ideas ever.

People rushing here and there, businessmen on their cell-phones, people rushing to the stands, going back and forth to and from work. It is impossible to describe the chaos that happens when you are going around Times Square during the 12:00 Lunch Rush.

Sasuke and Itachi decided to have their lunch while sitting on the billboard steps, a good old fashion American hotdog, and coke is sometimes all a man needs to feel alive.

Sasuke's choice: a 1/2 pound kielbasa with grilled onions and chipotle sauce on a poppy seed bun.

Itachi's choice: a 1/4 pound Vienna sausage with mustard, grilled onions, and sour kraut on a plain bun.

"There is always the option of joining Granma and Granddad in Monroe," Itachi said, "See if they'll put up the money for you to go back and get your masters."

"I don't know about that one," Sasuke said as he took a small bit of his hotdog, "While those two have always been supportive of me, you know after having me live with them for four years they wouldn't want me living with them for another two. They were hesitant to house me for these previous four years."

"Good point," Itachi said, "Even I was hesitant to put up with you when you were first born."

"Oh screw you," Sasuke said as he nudged his brother on the arm, "What other options do we have?"

"You could become a firefighter," Itachi said, "Not exactly FBI, but at least you'd have a badge."

Sasuke then looked over at the NYPD station, "Actually," he said, "You might be onto something there with the badge."

"What do you mean," Itachi asked.

Sasuke pointed at the NYPD station, "I think that looks pretty decent right there," he said.

"The NYPD," Itachi asked.

"No, no, way too far from home," Sasuke said, "And do you know how expensive it is to live up here? I'm thinking about working for the Alexandria Police Department."

"Become a cop," Itachi said, "You wouldn't be the first in our family to do that. Maybe you can get grandfathered in to carry great grandpappy's old service revolver."

"That old .357 he carried when he was Sheriff of Ouachita Parish," Sasuke asked, "I like revolvers, but that one might be a little too old for me to carry."

"I don't know," Itachi said as he took another bite of his hot dog, "There certainly are worse weapons to carry when you're a police officer."

"I'm not just talking about being a cop Itachi," Sasuke said.

"A SWAT officer," Itachi asked, Sasuke looked over at Itachi and shook his head, "A detective? You?"

"Why not," Sasuke asked, "I've always wanted to help people with their problems. Maybe as a detective, I can help Alexandria with its."

"I hope you're right on that one, Sasuke," Itachi said.

 _End Flashback_ …

The Nottingham apartments, quite honestly it seems to be the idea that a twelve-year-old Robin Hood fan had, don't get me wrong, it's an interesting idea, and it's been around for decades so it's a good set of apartments.

The parking lot is closed to the public, so pulling up in the front and parking is the best option if you're trying to visit someone.

The front desk area is just off the main entrance which just happens to be a larch archway, "Can I help you two gentlemen," the young receptionist said as she looked up to see Sasuke and Shikamaru enter.

"Alexandria PD," Shikamaru said as he held up his badge, "We understand an Adam Marco is a tenant in these apartments. We'd like to ask him some questions."

"Adam Marco," the woman said as she typed the name into the system, "Apartment 24Q," she pointed out the door, "Out the door, second floor, second building facing the pool."

"Thank you," Shikamaru said.

Sasuke and Shikamaru walked to the apartment, "Apartment 24Q," Shikamaru said.

Sasuke knocked on the door twice, "Alexandria Police," he said, "Open the door."

The door opened, and a man about thirty years old, Asian-Hispanic mix with brown eyes and black hair opened the door, he was dressed in a baggy pair of jogger pants and a baggy white shirt, it was pretty obvious he had only just woke up, "Can I help you gentlemen," he asked.

"Adam Marco," Shikamaru asked.

"Yes," Adam asked.

"I'm Detective Nara, this is my partner, Detective Uchiha," Shikamaru said, "We're investigating the murder of Johnny Trang."

"Murder," Adam asked, "That two-timing SOB is dead?"

"You don't sound too sad about his death," Sasuke said.

"I'm not," Adam said as he opened the door to let the two of them in, "Johnny was a walking volcano waiting to go off. When we opened Chinatown it was our idea to make the place a buffet that specialized in quality and quantity," Adam sat on a chair across from the couch Sasuke and Shikamaru sat at, "All Johnny saw were dollar signs. He used one small clause to turn our third partner against me and forced me out."

"Must have been difficult," Sasuke said, "We understand you have a contract that says Mr. Trang owed you about one hundred and fifty grand."

"Yes," Adam said, "I have my copy right over at my desk."

"May we see it," Shikamaru asked.

"Yes," Adam said, "I'll just go over there."

"Please," Sasuke said.

As Adam walked over to the desk, Shikamaru leaned over to Sasuke, "Not at all what I expected considering what Ms. Wong told us about that argument," he whispered.

"Maybe we don't know the whole story," Sasuke whispered, "Let's hear him out first."

Adam walked back to the two of them, flipped to a page towards the middle of the contract, and pointed at a section in the contract that he had highlighted, "Right there," he said.

"It states here that in the case of one member of the partnership being suspended that the suspended, the entitled party is due to the total amount of compensation," Sasuke said, "But it doesn't say anything about what should happen if the remaining party doesn't have the funds."

"Actually it does," Adam said as he took the contract, and flipped to the next page where another section was highlighted.

"Should the party that not have enough to cover the compensation that the two remaining partners will nominate one member of the party to compensate the dissolved," Sasuke read, "The way I heard it Mr. Trang was the third part selected, and that the checked bounced."

"Yea it did," Adam said.

"Must have been pretty mad about that," Shikamaru said.

"Now wait a minute," Adam said, "Are you suggesting that I had something to do with this?"

"You do have a $150,000 motive," Shikamaru said, "Opportunity, and we know about that argument you had with Mr. Trang."

"Ms. Wong told you about that," Adam said, "That's why you think I killed him."

"We're not paid to make accusations," Sasuke said, "We have one side, just tell us your side."

"I went in to confront Johnny," Adam said, "I was pissed, I'll admit, but I thought if I kept my cool it could have helped my case. We were discussing what we could do in the form of compensation, and Johnny flipped out. The next thing I knew we were screaming at each other, he picked up his laptop, and threw it at me."

"Mr. Trang threw it," Sasuke asked, "Ms. Wong said _you_ threw it."

"She wasn't back there," Adam said, "Johnny always had a temper, they usually ended in explosive tirades."

"Where were you this morning around 6:00, 6:30," Sasuke asked.

"I was with a lawyer," Adam said, "We were up all night. I was planning to sue Johnny, and force him to either give me back my position in the restaurant or run him out. Guess that doesn't matter now."

 _What do you think_ …


	11. Trouble at Chinatown - Part 3

**Part 11 – Trouble in Chinatown – Part 3**

Back at the station, they briefed their boss on the situation at hand.

"He's in the clear," Sasuke said, "He was with an Attorney by the name of Andrew Walton all night planning their case against Mr. Trang."

"Did this Andrew Walton confirm this," Iruka asked.

"He was our next stop before coming back here," Shikamaru said, "Walton is straight as an arrow, and has a portfolio to match. He confirms Adam Marco was with him all night until just 7:00 this morning."

"In other words, we are completely lost we're firmly entrenched in square one until that safecracker gets here from the capital," Iruka said.

"Pretty much," Sasuke said.

"What about Ms. Wong," Iruka asked, "She did say that it was Adam that threw that laptop against the wall."

"She was all the way in the front," Sasuke said, "There's no way she could have known who had thrown the laptop."

"Didn't Adam say that Mr. Trang had a violent temper," Iruka asked, "If we can tie his abuse to one specific employee maybe we can find another suspect."

 _Flashback_ …

The next stop was the top of the Empire State Building where Sasuke thought it prudent to bring his mother in on his plan.

The elevators in the Empire State Building are extremely fast, the numbers above the door go up in multiples of ten, and they go up ten floors at a time.

You'd think it'd take half an hour to reach the top, nope, it only takes a few minutes.

It certainly was worth it, up on top of that tower, looking out into what appears to be oblivion, the whole of New York passing underneath you is one of the most beautiful sights you can see on Manhattan Island.

"So that's your plan," Mikoto said, "To become a cop and find make Alexandria a safer place?"

"It's either that or work for dad," Sasuke said, "I want to help people, and looking out for the little guy is noble enough for me. Being a cop isn't my dream, but I'll be helping people, I'll be helping my own town, and I'll be around friends."

"You know I'll support you in whatever you do," Mikoto said as she grabbed Sasuke's arm.

"Thanks, mom," Sasuke said as he gave Mikoto a small kiss on the top of her head.

 _End Flashback_ …

"How do you want to handle this," Shikamaru asked.

"We want her to know that we think Adam is innocent," Sasuke said, "If we talk to her about Mr. Trang's temper, then maybe we can get a name of our new suspect out of her."

"You think we'll be able to get something out of her," Shikamaru asked.

"I don't know if we'll be able to get a name out of her," Sasuke said, "But I do know that we might be able to get something. The tiniest thing might be significant enough to give us a small clue."

The front window was still smashed, but the staff had cleaned it up, and there was no sign of blood on the ground.

The restaurant staff was still sitting around despite the fact it had been a little over seven hours since they had found their boss dead.

"Detectives," the Head Chef said as he saw them enter, "I'm afraid we're still closed."

"We're not here for dinner," Sasuke said, "Although, it would be nice. Is Ms. Wong still here?"

"She's in the private party room in the back," the Head Chef said as he pointed over his shoulder.

"Thanks," Sasuke said.

Sasuke and Shikamaru walked into the back where Ms. Wong was sitting with a face that Sasuke knew well.

It was Minato Uzumaki (when he and Kushina got married, Minato took Kushina's surname), the biggest personal injury lawyer in Alexandria, Naruto's father, and his father's corporate lawyer.

"Sasuke," Minato said as he looked up to see him entering, removing the thin-rimmed reading glasses he wore in his office, "What are you doing here?"

"This is my case," Sasuke said as he pushed his coat aside to show off his shield.

"I heard you made detective," Minato said as he stood up to shake Sasuke's hand, "I didn't know this was your case."

"And I'm afraid this fact is the reason that it's going to require me to steal your client away for a few minutes," Sasuke said, "Can you give us a few minutes?"

"Of course," Minato said as he stood up, picking up the insurance papers he had on Mr. Trang, "I have to go over these papers for a few minutes anyway."

Sasuke and Shikamaru sat down in front of Ms. Wong who looked at the two of them, "So, have you two found Adam," she asked.

"Yes, we did," Sasuke said.

"And," Ms. Wong asked.

"We don't think he did it," Shikamaru said, "He has an alibi."

"But what about that argument they had in the back office a few days ago," Ms. Wong asked.

"We believe it was Mr. Trang that started the confrontation," Sasuke said, "Adam let us know that Mr. Trang had a temper. We believe that it was him, not Adam that threw his computer against the wall."

"Are you calling me a liar," Ms. Wong asked.

"We're not making any accusations," Shikamaru said, "You were all the way in the front of house, there was no way for you to have known what was happening. But we do think that you might have known more about Mr. Trang's temper."

Ms. Wong's face changed to an expression of 'I've been found out', "Mr. Trang's temper knew almost no limits," she said, "He was rude, short-fused, and verbally abusive at times."

"Verbally abusive," Sasuke asked, "How?"

"Most of the staff didn't want to talk to him," Ms. Wong said, "He would go toe-to-toe with anyone. He actually had a fist-fight in the dining room with a customer who stood up for his girlfriend who was a server at the time."

"I take it he didn't win the fight," Sasuke asked.

"No," Ms. Wong said, "He would often reduce the staff to tears, telling them they're pin-heads, bimbos, dumb-asses, and every other nasty thing in the book."

"I take it he went through a lot of staff then if he was that bad," Sasuke asked.

"I know we went through twelve line cooks in the years we were open," Ms. Wong said, "At least forty waitresses."

"How many people has he fired vs. how many have quit," Sasuke asked.

"Out of the forty we've had, about twenty-nine have quit, the rest were fired," Ms. Wong said, "A few of them actually took getting fired well."

Shikamaru then received a call on his phone, "It's Tsunade," he said, "I'll take this," he then stepped outside

"Has there been a particular employee that he was overly abusive too," Sasuke asked.

"Pick a number," Ms. Wong said, "A former waiter that punched him because of his abuse, a former waitress that threw water on him for calling her a bitch, and the food-service guy who gave him a black eye because he accused him very harshly of price boosting."

"Could you give us a few names," Sasuke asked.

"I have a list on my computer up front," Ms. Wong said, "I can get it for you."

"Thank you, Ms. Wong," Sasuke said, "In the meantime, can you send Minato back in?"

"Of course," Ms. Wong said.

As soon as Ms. Wong left, and Minato entered, Minato instantly started talking, "Hello there, detective," he said, "How can I help you?"

"Take a seat," Sasuke said as he ushered toward the opposite seat, as Minato sat down, Sasuke leaned over the table, "I need your opinion on the situation," he whispered, "If you have an opinion about Ms. Wong?"

"She defiantly seems like the kind of woman that is passionate about her job," Minato said, "But I can't see her shooting a man to death for being abusive."

Shikamaru walked in to interrupt the conversation, "That was Tsunade," he said, "She says she has something that we absolutely have to see."

"Then what are we waiting for, then," Sasuke asked as he stood up before looking back at Minato, "Keep an ear to the ground, if she says anything that seems suspicious, then don't hesitate to call me."

"You got it," Minato said, "I have another few hours with her so I'll talk to her."

As Sasuke and Shikamaru walked out of the restaurant, Shikamaru broke the silence, "Ms. Wong was pretty quick to get defensive," he said.

"She's hiding something," Sasuke said, "The entire atmosphere of the place changed."

"I think that'll happen when somebody's been murdered in a place," Shikamaru said.

"Touché," Sasuke said.

 _The coroner's office_ …

"You missed me that much that you had to call us here while on the job," Shikamaru asked as they entered the autopsy room.

"The day I miss you Shikamaru," Tsunade said as she moved closer to Sasuke, and grabbed his arm, "Is the day this handsome devil withdrawals from the force."

Sasuke chuckled and shrugged, "What can I say," he asked, "The girls love me."

"And so does crime," Tsunade said as she let go of his arm, and pointed at the body lying on the table, "In the case of this poor man, rather violent crime. Shooting a man eleven times is bad enough," she then picked up a rather large Petri dishes that was full of copper splinters, "But this takes the cake."

"What," Shikamaru asked.

"R.I.P. rounds," Sasuke said, "Whoever shot him used controlled fracturing rounds for maximum wounding effect."

Controlled fracturing rounds are bullets that are designed to break up in the body, mostly designed for self-defense they are sold on the civilian market but are illegal to use in warfare, and probably useless being as Kevlar might be able to stop them dead.

"Yep," Tsunade said as she pointed at the two shots that were high on Mr. Trang's chest, "I found two shots were the first which tore holes in his aorta and heart which would be lethal enough," she then moved to the middle of the chest, "The five down here went clean through his lungs, effectively turning them into corkboards."

"I take it the two shots in the head were equally as vicious," Shikamaru asked.

"That was putting it lightly," Tsunade said as she grabbed Mr. Trang's head, and turned his head onto the side to show the exit wounds, "He was wearing a hairnet which kept it all inside, but as soon as I took it off, everything inside his head just flopped out onto the table. What was apparent was how absolutely shredded the brain was."

"Our killer didn't want him to survive," Sasuke said, "Whoever did this hated Mr. Trang deeply."

"Yep," Shikamaru said as he checked his phone, "From Iruka, his safe-cracker is back at the office."

"Alright," Sasuke said as he put his hand on Tsunade's shoulder, "I'll try not to keep you missing me for too long."

"Please don't," Tsunade said, placing a hand over her heart, "I don't know if I can go any further without seeing that face."

Sasuke chuckled as he and Shikamaru walked out of the building, and out to Shikamaru's truck, "You two seem to be very friendly," he said, "You two started seeing each other behind Sakura's back."

"Nope," Sasuke said as they climbed into the truck, "But we have been talking a little bit after work. I actually introduced her to Sakura and the two have become almost like a mentor and an apprentice."

"That's interesting," Shikamaru said as he started up his truck, and took off down the street.

The Alexandria Coroner's office and the Alexandria Police station are literally right down the street from each other (albeit it's a half-mile drive between the two), but it is rather convenient for police officers.

"It is," Sasuke said, "Sakura was only interested in her career when I first started a few years ago."

"Well, maybe you should have found things she liked doing," Shikamaru said, "Then you'd two might have gotten together a lot sooner."

As they pulled up outside and got out, Sasuke spoke up, "Maybe," he said, "Maybe."

As they entered the station, Iruka was waiting for them in the office and directed them into the evidence locker where the safecracker was hard at work.

"Sasuke, Shikamaru," Iruka said, "This is Tazuna Bernson, best safecracker this side of the Mississippi."

"Gentlemen," Tazuna said as he was busy with his drill, being as there is no way to determine what the combination is without bringing Mr. Trang back to life, which was impossible, he had to drill a hole through the area above the dial and look into it with a special camera.

As soon as he was done with the drill, he pulled out his special camera and took a good look inside of the combination dial.

"How long do you think he's going to take," Shikamaru asked.

Within a few seconds, there was a click, and the door swung open, "Done," Tazuna said.

As he opened the door, it revealed a treasure-trove of unusual things for a restaurant owner to have.

"That is most defiantly a .410 revolver," Shikamaru said as he pulled a S&W governor out of the safe, and opened the chambers, "Loaded and ready."

"If he had this on him we'd be picking our killer off of the floor," Iruka said as he took the revolver after Shikamaru handed it to him, and removed the shells from the revolver, "Why would a restaurant owner have this?"

"He was protecting something," Shikamaru said as he reached inside, and there was a small file containing green certificates, "What are these?"

"U.S. Treasury Certificates," Sasuke said as he took the one in Shikamaru's hand, "Written by the federal reserve in Los Angeles back in 1998."

"How much are they worth," Shikamaru asked.

Sasuke looked at the amount on the certificates, "Back in 1998 about 1.5 million," he said.

"And now," Iruka asked.

"About 2.2 million," Sasuke said as he handed it back to Shikamaru said.

"So he had about 2.2. million sitting here in his safe," Iruka said as Sasuke pulled out another envelope, and opened it to reveal something shocking, "Then why'd the check bounce when he tried to pay back Mr. Marco?"

"Because he probably got it illegally," Sasuke said as he pulled out two pictures from the envelope showing two young mixed Caucasian-Asian girls about four to six years old holding up cardboard signs that both had $750,000 written on them in a thick permanent marker, "Look at the time stamp on these photos."

"03/12/1998," Iruka said, "That coincides with the certificates. What would an honest man like Mr. Trang want with something like this?"

"Because he was hiding something," Sasuke said as he pulled another item out of the bag: F.B.I. poster from 1998 with Mr. Trang's picture on it, but the name on the poster read, 'Marcus Wong', "Our 'local business owner'," Sasuke turned the poster around to show them, "Was apparently a fugitive."

 _I know it's unbelievable, but I promise and swear it's true_ …


	12. Trouble at Chinatown - Part 4

**Part 12 – Trouble in Chinatown – Part 4**

"Yes," Sasuke said over the phone, "Thank you, Detective, you have a good evening."

"Well," Iruka asked as Sasuke hung up the phone and walked up to the evidence-board.

"That was detective Adam Lopez out in Los Angeles," Sasuke said, "His father worked the original case back in 1998, and the case is still pending because the perpetrator hasn't been caught, because he's lying on a slab in our morgue," he opened the two photos of the girls holding the signs, "Rose-Anne and Bella Simons, born in Los Angles in 1992, mother, Ms. Ju Chang was a Chinese mail-order-bride whose swift marriage in 1990 to young, up and coming Los Angles Federal Reserve employee, Micha Butler allowed her to avoid jail time for her role in in the Tiananmen Square protests."

"She was in hiding until February on the following year when she left to come to America in order to stay out of prison for helping erect the barricades," Shikamaru said.

"By 1991, she and Micha were living a very comfortable lower-middle-class lifestyle until Micha was promoted to deputy board member," Sasuke said, "Suddenly they went from lower-middle-class to upper-middle-class overnight, bought a bigger house, and two, very nice cars. Nine months later, two baby girls were born, and the family lived a very comfortable life. Until March 11th, 1992 when the two five-year-old girls were sent off to school, but they never arrived. Two days later, Micha returned, and two pictures exactly like these were nailed to the door and a phone number."

"The kidnapper demanded the entire amount upfront, but Micha knew that if he gave the kidnapper the whole amount, then there was no incentive to return the girls," Shikamaru said, "He told the kidnapper if he returned one of the girls he would give him half the money in the form of U.S. Treasury certificates that would never expire."

"He left the first certificate at the drop-point," Sasuke said, "Four hours later Rose-Anne walked up to the front steps of her parent's house and rang the doorbell. The next day, Micha delivers the remainder of the cash to another drop-point, and two hours later, Bella is running into her parent's arms. That's when they call the police, and both girls positively identify one Marcus Wong as the man that took them.

"But by the time authorities had put his picture out in the papers Marcus Wong had boarded a plane to San Antonio," Shikamaru said, "He rented a 1992 Ford Falcon, drove to Houston, and simply, vanished, stock certificates and all."

"They found the car abandoned at a hotel within the Houston city limits," Sasuke said, "Inside they found his driver's license and a handwritten note saying that authorities would never see him again. Since then he's been wanted by the California division of the F.B.I., U.S. Marshalls, Los Angeles County Sheriffs, and authorities in thirty-eight counties across California."

"And then he settles here," Shikamaru said, "Finds a job working at various companies where he picks up managerial skills and a short temper. Within a couple years he finds a partner, they put their money together, and they open Chinatown together."

"But why come here," Iruka asked, "Why Louisiana and why Alexandria?"

"Because authorities aren't looking for him in Louisiana," Sasuke said, "It's about four states away from his problems, and he happens to be the Head Chef's second cousin."

"I want him brought in immediately," Iruka said.

"We already have units heading to his house to arrest him," Sasuke said, "We should have him in a cell within the next hour."

"What about the certificates," Iruka asked, "And the Butler family?"

"California treasury department states that the certificates were labeled," Sasuke said, "Even if Marcus Wong used them they would have tracked him down, and locked him up for the rest of his life for kidnapping. As for the Butler family, Micha and Ju Butler were at work every day this week. Ever since the kidnapping, Ju makes it a point to keep tabs on her children so she calls them once every two hours. Mrs. Butler insists that her daughters haven't been beyond the Vegas Strip. Both Rose-Anne and Bella have airtight alibis. It's no secret however that Micha still harbors old grudges," Sasuke picked up a piece of paper off his desk, "His final instructions before he hung up were, 'Take those useless certificates and shove it up that jerk's rear'."

"He was really that calm," Iruka asked.

"Nope," Sasuke said, "I'm paraphrasing. He does, however, insist we send the certificates back to California."

"Are you sure we should send those back," Shikamaru asked, "We could do a lot with two million dollars."

"I'm gonna pretend I didn't hear that," Iruka said, "What about the cousin?"

"Well the gun is registered as being bought by him," Shikamaru said as he picked up the revolver they found in Marcus Wong's safe.

"Since he's been living under an assumed identity he can't openly purchase a gun," Sasuke said, "So of course, he asks his cousin to buy him the revolver for personal protection, he puts up the money, the cousin buys the gun, and he keeps it in his office in case there's a break-in."

"Lot of good it did him," Shikamaru said, "A guy walks in, blasts him eleven times with a 9mm, and doesn't even get into the safe."

"Maybe," Sasuke said as he checked his watch, "I don't know about you guys, but I have a hot date in about half an hour."

"We'll handle the interrogation tomorrow," Shikamaru said.

"Alright," Iruka said, "You guys have a good evening."

"You too, LT," Sasuke said before holding his fist out to Shikamaru who bumped it, "See you, partner."

"You too," Shikamaru said.

Sasuke walked outside where Sakura was waiting, "Hello, detective," she said as she walked up to him.

"Ms. Haruno," Sasuke said, "Ready for dinner?"

"You know it," Sakura said.

"How'd you get here anyway," Sasuke asked as they walked into the parking lot to Sasuke's car.

"How's the case going," Sakura asked as Sasuke opened the door for her.

"Alright," Sasuke said as Sakura entered the car, "Up until I discovered that Mr. Trang has been on the run from the F.B.I. for twenty-four years," he shut the door.

"What," Sakura asked as Sasuke took his place in the driver's seat.

"Yep," Sasuke said, "His real name isn't Johnny Trang, it's Marcus Wong," Sasuke stared up his charger, put the car in reverse, and drove off.

"Marcus Wong," Sakura asked.

"Yes," Sasuke said, "The man is wanted by authorities over half of California for kidnapping."

"That's quite a revelation," Sakura said.

"Yea," Sasuke said as he turned onto Masonic Drive, "What do you feel like tonight?"

"I'm thinking something a little different," Sakura said.

"How about Zito's," Sasuke asked.

"Greek and Lebanese," Sakura asked, "I could go for some Mediterranean."

"And the lady makes a decision," Sasuke said, "Let's go."

"Has it always been like this while you're working cases," Sakura asked as Sasuke turned onto the traffic circle, "Able to find time for your friends?"

"Not really," Sasuke said as he got off on the next exit, driving towards Zito's, "Back when I was a patrol officer I took extra hours to stay away from my father's suggestions that I leave being a cop, and go to plumbing school."

"Your father just wants what's best for you," Sakura said.

"I know that," Sasuke said as they got off on the final exit, and pulled into the parking lot, "But I've found my calling. Being a cop is the best thing I've ever done, and I'm proud to say it."

"I'm glad you are a cop," Sakura said as they exited the car.

Sasuke and Sakura entered Zito's whereupon sitting down they were instantly greeted by a young woman who was about twenty years old.

"Welcome to Zito's," she said, "What can I get you to drink?"

"Coke," Sasuke said.

"Sprite," Sakura said.

"So," Sakura said as she placed her napkin in her lap, "How's the rib?"

"Healing," Sasuke said, "Still tender. You know, I'm surprised you didn't take your car to work."

"My car is in the shop," Sakura said.

"What's wrong," Sasuke asked.

"Timing belt is off," Sakura said, "They said it should be done by tomorrow."

"Interesting," Sasuke said, "I never knew that BMWs had timing belt issues."

As their waitress brought out drinks, Sasuke decided what he wanted from the menu, "What'll you have," she asked.

"I'll have the Youvetsi," Sasuke said.

"I'll take kebabs," Sakura said, "Chicken please."

"I'll go put those in," the waitress said.

"I'm actually curious," Sakura said, "Why'd you come back to Alexandria to become a cop? You could have gone anywhere your father wasn't. Why come back here?"

"This town does things to you," Sasuke said, "I guess when I left college I wanted to come back to a place that was familiar. When we left the Army, everyone settled here. My family's here, and you're here."

"Has anyone told you that you can be really romantic sometimes," Sakura asked.

"I've been called charming before," Sasuke said, "Never romantic."

"Charming," Sakura asked, "By who?"

"You," Sasuke said as he leaned back in his seat, "I might have gone to college at a different school, but I would often visit you when you were in medical school remember?"

"Oh yea," Sakura said, "I'm surprised we didn't think about doing this back then."

"What," Sasuke asked as he picked up his drink, and took a small swig, "Having dinner?"

"Dating," Sakura said.

"You never seemed interested in dating," Sasuke said.

"I thought the same about you," Sakura said, "Back when you were A.S.H.'s (Alexandria Senior High) linebacker you had every girl in school lining up to date you, but you weren't interested in them."

"Because I didn't have eyes for them," Sasuke said as he looked up at Sakura, "I had my eyes on someone else."

"Me," Sakura asked, "Come on, in high school I always wore those thin-rimmed glasses and those worn-out sneakers. Most of the girls at school wore short skirts and high heels, and you were more attracted to me more than them?"

"They were more self-centered than you," Sasuke said, "They were only interested in dating me because I was the hot guy around the school. You were one of my best friends, and I honestly thought you were the cutest and most beautiful girls on school grounds."

"You were a good friend too," Sakura said, "And I really missed you when I went to Shreveport."

"I missed you too," Sasuke said.

The two of them then leaned over the table in an attempt to kiss before the waitress brought out their food, "Am I interrupting something," the waitress asked.

"No," Sasuke said, "No, not at all."

Following dinner, Sasuke drove Sakura back home: a small house on Rue Maria just off of Versailles Boulevard.

Sasuke walked her up to the front door, and as she unlocked her door, Sasuke leaned against the wall and spoke, "You know, it's weird," he said.

"What is," Sakura asked as she unlocked her front door, and turned off her house alarm.

"When we went to A.S.H., we both said we would end up on different ends of the country by the time we were finished with college," Sasuke said.

"I remember," Sakura said as she walked outside, "You wanted to go to New York and become an F.B.I. agent."

"And you wanted to go to Seattle and become a Cardiac Surgeon," Sasuke said, "Now here we are, seven years later. You're living not a two-minute drive from our High School, and me about six minutes."

"It is ironic," Sakura said as she smiled at Sasuke, "I suppose that life has a funny way of doing things."

"I suppose," Sasuke said, "Is this where we part?"

"That would be a yes," Sakura said as she leaned forward and kissed Sasuke, "Sweet dreams."

"Good night," Sasuke said as he watched Sakura close her door, and he walked back to his car, only to have a call on his cell, "Uchiha," he said as he placed the phone to his ear.

"Sasuke, it's me," Shikamaru said over the other line, "We have a lead on the shooter."

[ _Dramatic Music_ ]

 ***The story you are reading is a work of fiction, but it is inspired by actual events in which the owner of a Chinese Buffet in Alexandria, Louisiana was wanted in California for kidnapping, and spent over a decade hiding until he was finally arrested. He is currently sitting in jail for his crimes…**


	13. Trouble at Chinatown - Part 5

**Part 13 – Trouble in Chinatown – Part 5**

As soon as he arrived, Shikamaru and Iruka were watching surveillance footage from the surveillance cameras at Dillard's located in the mall.

"You going to tell me what we got here," Sasuke asked, "Or should I start guessing?"

"We got footage of the shooter," Shikamaru said as he pointed to the area next to him, "Pull up a chair."

Sasuke grabbed the chair from behind his desk, and wheeled it up next to his partner and his commanding officer, "Surveillance footage," he asked.

"Yep," Shikamaru said as he pointed at the red BMW in the parking lot, "Right there is his getaway car."

The gunman ran up to the BMW and in a haste, almost tore his pants as he was pulling his keys out of his pocket, he unlocked the car, jumped inside, and tore out of the parking lot.

"That pretty much confirms what we're saying," Iruka said, "Someone with long hair."

"Wait a minute," Sasuke said as he walked up to the screen, "Rewind that," Iruka used the tablet which was Bluetooth connected to the screen to rewind the footage which showed the suspect getting into the car, as he peeled out, "Stop right there."

Sasuke noticed that the suspect was reaching up to his head.

 _Flashback_ …

Afghanistan, 2011…

Sasuke had been given the job of over watch during a routine patrol while his squad was in Kabul, their new CO, Second Lieutenant Martin Kerns was leading the squad in the streets below while Hinata was up in the overwatch perch with him.

"You can't prove that Naruto cheated last night in the card game," Hinata said.

"There was a card in his lap," Sasuke said, "How much more blatantly obvious can you get than that?"

Sasuke's weapon was an M110 with the standard issue Harris bipod, a Leupold Mark 4 scope, and a vertical foregrip.

"We told you, it fell onto his lap as you were shuffling the deck," Hinata said.

"I noticed the card in his lap after _you_ were finished shuffling the deck," Sasuke said.

"So it's my fault then," Hinata said, "So what, I made one mistake."

"I'm just saying that next time, maybe take some more care when shuffling," Sasuke said, "Right now, most of our poker nights consist of us betting on items our families send from home, at least one person cheating once a week, and someone messing up the shuffling. I'd like to keep us from accusing each other of cheating because it's not really fair."

"I hear you, Sarge," Hinata said.

"Sweep clear so far," Second Lieutenant Kerns said.

"Roger that," Sasuke said as he pressed to fingers to his throat-mike.

It was then that Sasuke noticed a civilian walking across the street dressed in a long dress that was almost dragging along the ground, and there was hair hanging out of the back of her hijab which was unusual because the hair was almost unnaturally shiny.

"You see that," Hinata asked.

"Yep," Sasuke said as he reached up to press his throat-mike, "Hold up, we have a woman about two hundred and fifty yards out heading toward you guys."

"I see her," Naruto said over the comm.

As Sasuke observed this woman he noticed something was budging underneath her dress, "Her dress is swinging weirdly, she's hiding something," Sasuke said, it was then the woman ducked into a nearby car and from what Sasuke could see in the window was the hajib coming off, and she then reached up to her head to pull the wig off, revealing _she_ was a _he_ , and he was carrying some type of AK, "Weapon confirmed, weapon confirmed. Permission to engage."

"Sergeant, you are not cleared to fire unless hostile intentions are confirmed," Second Lieutenant Kerns said, "Repeat, you not cleared unless hostile intentions are confirmed."

"How do I confirm," Sasuke asked.

"If she aims the rifle at us you are cleared," Second Lieutenant Kerns said.

"Range it," Sasuke said.

"Two hundred and fifty…" Hinata began, "Two hundred and fifty-five yards."

The man stepped out of the car, and what exited next was an AKSM: he racked the cocking-drive, aimed downrange toward the convoy, and placed his finger on the trigger right before his chest exploded.

"Target down," Sasuke said.

 _End flashback_ …

"It's a wig," Sasuke said as he pointed at the screen, "I saw it over and over again in Afghanistan."

"Easy way to hide one's identity," Shikamaru said.

"What about the BMW," Sasuke asked

"Only the last three letters," Shikamaru said as he pointed at the license plate on the back of the car.

"What about these," Sasuke asked as he pointed at the LSU bumper sticker and a small square sticker on the back window.

"What about them," Shikamaru asked as Iruka was signaled over to the Sergeant's desk.

"An LSU bumper sticker," Sasuke said before pointed at the small square sticker on the back window, "What are you willing to bet that this is an LSU student's parking pass?"

"I'm afraid that'll have to wait for now," the Iruka said as he walked back over to them, "We have your victim's cousin in interrogation room one."

"Then it's time to talk to him," Shikamaru said.

"Let's find out why he was hiding a wanted fugitive," Sasuke said.

The two of them walked in to see the kitchen manager, Lucas sitting at the interrogation table, "Mr. Uchiha, I knew it would be you," he said as he stood up, and held out his arms to Sasuke, "Can you please get these cuffs off me?"

Shikamaru shoved him back down into the chair as and spoke up, "Sit down and listen," he said.

"Detective Uchiha," Lucas said as he looked back at Sasuke, "You're a reasonable man, surely we can come to an agreement."

"Are you trying to bribe my partner," Shikamaru asked as he pounded on the table, "Why don't we pin that to the list of things we can add onto you're growing rap sheet."

"What rap sheet," Lucas asked, "I haven't done anything wrong?"

"How about harboring a fugitive," Sasuke asked as he put the wanted poster they got from the safe onto the table.

"That's Johnny," Lucas said, "What's he doing on a wanted poster?"

"Don't fucking lie to us," Shikamaru said, "We know that Marcus Wong is your second cousin and that you purchased the gun we found in his safe."

"Harboring a fugitive," Sasuke said, "Providing a wanted felon with a firearm, all these things mean jail time for you buddy."

"For doing what," Lucas asked, "I don't know what you're talking about."

Sasuke placed the order for the Taurus Judge on the table that had his signature on it, "We can prove you two are second cousins," Shikamaru said, "We can prove that it was you that provided Marcus Wong with the firearm, and that's you doing jail time, not him."

"What do you want me to say," Lucas asked.

"You help us find who killed your cousin," Shikamaru said, "And we'll speak to the D.A. on your behalf."

"But first you have to do something for us," Sasuke said as he leaned over the table toward Lucas, "I want to know what happened back in 1991 when he came to you after he became a fugitive."

"Three days before he arrived, he called me," Lucas said, "He said he was in trouble out in California, and needed to get away from the state. He arrived three days later on a Greyhound bus from Houston."

"He told you about what he did," Sasuke asked.

"He didn't have to," Lucas said, "Before he arrived a few Federal Agents came around asking questions. He wasn't there, so I couldn't tell them anything."

"You lied to a Federal Agent," Sasuke asked.

"No," Lucas said, "They never asked me once if I knew where he was. So I didn't tell them."

"Alright then," Sasuke said, "What else can you tell us?"

"I don't know if it helps," Lucas said, "But I noticed a mysterious car across the street parked there every day the last week."

"Red BMW," Sasuke asked.

"Yes," Lucas said as he reached into his pocket, pulled out his wallet, and then a small slip of paper, "I took down the license plate number."

Shikamaru took the piece of paper, on it was a three-number, three-letter license plate, "We'll go run this plate," he said, "In the meantime, we'll have you brought somewhere more comfortable."

As they walked out into the squad room, Shikamaru quickly dialed the number into his computer, and it came back to give him quite a shock.

"You got the plates," Sasuke asked.

"Yes I did," Shikamaru said, "And you're not going to believe it."

Sasuke walked around to the stand behind his partner, and he was right, he didn't believe it: the car was registered to a twenty-two year old LSU college student named Johnny David Butler, the cousin of Rose-Anne and Bella Simons Butler.

 _Thirty minutes later_ …

"Alright," Sasuke said, "Thanks. See you in an hour."

"Well," Iruka asked as he looked at Sasuke.

"That was the head of the LSU Police Department," Sasuke said, "Johnny Butler was detained by campus police just this morning. He missed an entire day of class yesterday, which according to his teachers is not normal. He came back to the campus yesterday, was stopped for a speeding violation, and when they questioned him, guess what the officer found in his car?"

"Was it a 9mm pistol and a black wig," Shikamaru asked.

"If by 9mm you mean a compact Glock 19 loaded with RIP rounds, then yes," Sasuke said, "Fourteen round fired."

"With the pistol, the RIP rounds, the car, and the wig, I'd say you have your man," Iruka said.

"Campus police are flying him out," Shikamaru said, "We'll get him."

As Shikamaru said that, Sasuke sat back, "What is it, Detective," Iruka asked.

"Sir," Sasuke asked.

"You're thinking of something," Iruka said as he pulled up a chair next to Sasuke, "Come on, what is it?"

"It doesn't make any sense," Sasuke said as he pointed at Johnny Butler's college record on his computer, "Look at that. He's a straight-A student, he's never missed a day of class, and according to friends, he's only been to Alexandria once. So how does someone go from a clean-cut, goody-two-shoes Chemical Engineering Major to a guy who knows exactly where the man that kidnapped his cousins almost twenty years ago, then shooting him eleven times?"

"You're thinking someone set him up," Iruka said.

"The guy had a lot of enemies," Sasuke said, "Ms. Wong said he's been abusive."

 _One hour later_ …

Officer Temujin of the LSU Police had brought him into the interrogation room where he was just sitting there, his head facing the desk.

"Officer Temujin," Sasuke said as he walked into the room, and shook his hand, "I'm Detective Uchiha," he pointed at Shikamaru, "My partner, Detective Nara."

"Good to see you two," Temujin said, "He hasn't said a word. Not even on the plane."

"He'll talk," Sasuke said before looking at Johnny, "I'll take this one."

Sasuke walked through the door into the interrogation room, Johnny still not saying a word, not even looking up to acknowledge him.

"Johnny Butler," Sasuke said as he sat down in front of him, "I'm Detective Uchiha. You comfortable," Johnny didn't answer, he just continued to fidget with his shackles, "Those too tight," Johnny nodded, like a scared little kid, "You want them off," Johnny nodded.

Sasuke walked over to the wall, retrieved the keys, and unlocked Johnny's shackles.

"Thank you," Johnny said.

"Of course," Sasuke said as he sat down in front of him, "You don't look like you've slept. Thirsty," Johnny nodded, "We have a vending machine down the hall. Soda?"

"Dr. Pepper," Johnny said, "Please."

"Wait here," Sasuke said as he stood up.

Walking out of the room, he walked down to the vending machine, swiped his credit card, and walked back to the interrogation room where he placed the soda in front of Johnny.

Johnny took the drink, and had a small swig before putting it down, "Thank you," he said.

"You're shaken," Sasuke said, "You're afraid."

"What are they going to do to me," Johnny asked.

"I don't know," Sasuke said, "It depends."

"Depends on what," Johnny asked.

"On whether or not you're going to confirm my theory," Sasuke said as he placed Johnny's transcript, record, and a picture of Marcus Wong, "You're a straight-A student, the biggest trouble you've been in with the law, a few tickets for parking violations. Someone as green as you doesn't go from being as clean-cut as my father's lawn on Tuesday afternoon to shooting a man eleven times unless someone put you up to it."

Johnny looked up at Sasuke, "You would believe me," he asked.

"Yes," Sasuke said as he spread out a few pictures on the table, "Do you recognize anyone in these pictures?"

Johnny looked through the pictures, and handed Sasuke one that he recognized, "It was her, she was the one that told me about him," he said.

Sasuke stood up, walked over to the window, and held up the picture of Ms. Wong.

 _Two hours later_ …

Ms. Wong was brought into the station, and left in the interrogation room while Sasuke and Shikamaru waited in the adjacent room behind the privacy glass.

"So she's behind this," Iruka asked.

"Johnny pulled her photo out," Sasuke said, "According to him, he ate at the restaurant once, and she took their payment."

"Hence the reason she knew they were related," Iruka said, "But that doesn't explain how she knew about what happened."

"I guess we'll find out," Sasuke said.

"How are you going to do that," Iruka asked, "If she's manipulated Johnny into committing murder, then what makes you think she's going to fall into your trap?"

"That's where you come in," Sasuke said, "You know what to do."

Sasuke and Shikamaru walked inside to see Ms. Wong sitting there.

"You better have a good reason for dragging me into this," Ms. Wong said.

"You mean besides the fact that you manipulated an innocent person into murdering your boss," Shikamaru asked.

"What do you mean," Ms. Wong said.

"Drop the act," Sasuke said as he leaned back against the wall, "Johnny's implicated you up to your neck."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Ms. Wong said, "I have an airtight alibi. If you have the man who killed my boss, then charge him, and let me go."

"We'd love to," Sasuke said, "But…"

Iruka opened the door to walk into the interrogation room, "Yes, Lieutenant," Shikamaru asked.

"I wanted to say that David accepted that plea deal," Iruka said as he handed a file out to Sasuke, "File from Judge Jiraiya Malone."

"Well," Shikamaru asked.

"David has agreed to plead guilty to manslaughter in the third," Sasuke said, "A couple months of house-arrest, some probation in California, and he's home free."

"Sweet," Shikamaru said.

"Yep," Sasuke said, he then pulled out a slip of blue paper, "The weapon however will have to be returned."

"You're going to let him go," Ms. Wong asked.

"It's the law," Sasuke said as he folded the binder up, "I'll go take care of it," he walked out of the room, leaving Shikamaru alone with Ms. Wong.

"You can't let him know I'm here," Ms. Wong said.

"He already does," Shikamaru said as he pointed at the one-way window, "It's called making a positive identification," Shikamaru stood up to leave, "I'll be right back."

"Wait," Ms. Wong said, "Where are you going?"

"To grab the gun so we can return it," Shikamaru said.

"You can't let him go," Ms. Wong said, "With him out, and me out there, I'm next."

"Next for what," Shikamaru asked, "You didn't do anything."

"Alright," Ms. Wong said, "I'll tell you what you want, but you have to keep him away."

"Ok," Shikamaru said as he sat in front of Ms. Wong, "Start with why."

"You didn't know him like I did," Ms. Wong said, "He was beyond abusive. I was constantly hounded by his never-ending affection."

"You and him," Shikamaru asked.

"I was able to hold off his advances long enough," Ms. Wong said, "Then one night, he…"

"He forced himself on you," Shikamaru asked.

"Just a kiss," Ms. Wong said, "Nothing else."

"So you found out about the Butlers," Shikamaru asked.

"I overheard him and Lucas talking," Ms. Wong said, "They were in Baton Rouge for a restaurant expose. Johnny was there, and they were talking about him."

"You sought him out," Shikamaru said, "And you made him commit this act?"

"Yes," Ms. Wong said.

"Ok then," Shikamaru said, "I'll speak to your lawyer. We'll draw out a plea deal."

"And what about Johnny," Ms. Wong asked, "He going to jail."

"Johnny," Shikamaru asked, "Johnny's being charged with possession of a firearm in a gun free zone."

"What," Ms. Wong asked, "Your partner said he was being charged with Third-Degree Manslaughter."

"Your file says you're from Oregon," Shikamaru said, "We're not in Oregon. Louisiana doesn't have degrees of manslaughter."

Ms. Wong's head hit the desk in defeat as Shikamaru walked into the observation room where Johnny was waiting with Sasuke.

"It's funny," Johnny said, "She was so confident she wouldn't get caught. Then you lie to her, and she cracks like an egg shell."

"That's why most masterminds get caught," Sasuke said, "There's always one weak link. In this case it was her."

"Is what you said true," Johnny asked, "That's all I'm being charged with?"

"It is our findings that you were not in control of your actions," Shikamaru said, "You will have to surrender the firearm. You'll receive a fine of $2000 from the LSU Campus Police, and then you're good."

"Is that all," Johnny asked.

"I'm afraid not," Sasuke said as he put his hand on Johnny's shoulder, "The Campus Legislature called me when our officers were bringing her him. I'm afraid you're tenure at LSU is over."

"I'm expelled," Johnny asked.

"No," Sasuke said, "But they rescinded your scholarship. I would start looking for another college."

 _One hour later_ …

Sasuke and Shikamaru sat at the bar in Konoha, Sasuke was nursing a tall glass of Johnnie Walker Red, and Shikamaru was just staring at his beer.

"So she's going to jail," Shikamaru asked.

"Her attorney accepted the deal," Sasuke said, "Seven years in Angola Prison."

"Meanwhile Johnny's life is going to change forever," Shikamaru said, "He has to leave LSU at the end of the semester, he has to find a new college, and he killed someone."

"Yea," Sasuke said, "Killing a man was an acceptable afterthought when we were in Afghanistan, and it's almost a given for a cop. He's never going to be the same."

"Nope," Shikamaru said as he downed another swig before holding up his glass, "It's a victory, but it's a bittersweet victory."

"I'll drink to that," Sasuke said as he held up his glass.

"Here, here," Shikamaru said as he tapped his glass against Sasuke's

 ***Sorry it's been so long guys, I've been busy with school, and now I have to start looking for a job so don't be surprised if I don't update for a while.**

 **Again I would like to say that what you have just read is a work of fiction, the crime of murder never happened, and the actual crime was resolved…**


End file.
